Aetas Infinitas
by CrystalRyu
Summary: As a creature that has the ability to live for nearly a millennia, one individual ninetails goes through the trails of life at its longest. From native people, up until the present day losing friends and human companions as they die short lived.
1. The Whelp

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter One

The Whelp

Well, this is an original idea of mine that I thought of about a year and a half ago and just never got around to writing. I thought that it would be neat to see the experiences of a creature that lives close to forever from a human perspective. I really wanted to get the first chapter at least finished before I started my exams next week. Xx

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

"Don't worry, I'll be back for you," The mother ninetails gently licked her nearly newborn offspring's muzzle and breathed deeply. She looked up warily for a moment and then dashed away in an instant. The blind, deaf, and furless blob of vulpix lay curled up in a tiny thicket near a small waterfall in the middle of the woods. The moment that it no longer felt its mother's warm touch the tiny whelp began to whimper in hunger and loneliness, as any newly arrived creature would do.

If the pup could have heard, it would have received noises of running men, whatever they were to the tiny fox. It would have heard men with large, noisy weapons and loud shouts that echoed around every crevice in the thick woods. The pup did however, feel great vibrations in the ground as the strangers passed, and the unfamiliar sensations terrified the pup into crying loudly. Something inside that tiny pup's head however, told it that crying right now would only lead to pain and terror from the strange creatures that were of the unknown.

The next morning was a bright, sunny one, contrast to the previous day that had been filled with rainstorms, the sudden disappearance of her mother, and the strange vibrations that had terrified the whelp. Birds chirped in the trees and the pup slowly awoke in the warmth of the sun that shone brightly through the crevices of the thicket. The vulpix stirred and sniffed the air with a tiny dot of a nose that quivered up and down senselessly even though it couldn't actually smell anything yet. It struggled to drag itself a few inches from where it had been lain by its mother the night before, and pointlessly sampled the air again. As the warm sun beat down on everything in the wood it warmed the pup's back once more and put it into the deep sleep that only a baby can experience.

When it awoke again, the tiny vulpix lifted its head toward the still-blue sky and felt the gentlest of breezes blow past its back, and caused the whelp to shiver a bit. This caused the newborn a bit of discomfort and it began a tiny, low whimper that gradually grew to a loud crying that just happened to catch the interest of a lone Nidorina. The azure rodent was casually strolling past and averted its head to see a tiny, white ball of skin that occasionally vibrated in time with the whimpers. Curious, the nidorina trotted near to the pale blob lying on the forest floor and gave it a gentle nudge with its muzzle. The pup stopped its outcry for a moment and rolled its body over to investigate with what few senses it had. This stranger wasn't its mother, no; it didn't even have a similar touch or the comforting scent that only the female ninetails could possess.

The nidorina was perplexed by this random creature that had managed to capture its interest after it had just released its own litter to be off on their own not three days before. Unsure of what to do next, the nidorina sat on its haunches for a moment and cocked it head to the side. Finally the rodent rose to its feet and gently nudged the pup until it was resting delicately on the nape of its neck and trotted once more in the direction it had been heading.

The tiny vulpix had slept the entire way from atop the nidorina's back and awoke a second time when it was cautiously dumped on the floor of a shallow burrow. It was cold and damp, and would have smelled of young nidoran had it been there a few days before. Suddenly the vulpix began to whimper again, but the nidorina knew exactly what the newborn wanted. Another nidorina stepped from behind the first, and the pup could sense that she was heavy with milk. The second nidorina circled the pup and lie down next to it and offered it her swelling teats that made the pup overflow with as even greater hunger. The vulpix crawled the few inches to the nidorina and greedily began to drink the warm milk. It wasn't the same as the first drink of its life but it was satisfying and the nipple tasted faintly of other creatures, most likely this mother's offspring.

When it had satisfied its intense cravings, the pup shifted onto its back and rolled over onto its side, facing away from the mother. Its belly was bloated, and again the whelp fell into its baby sleep. The laden nidorina got to its feet and chirped its leave and then left through the burrow entrance.

This same routine continued for several weeks, when the pup had had all of its senses for around four days. With its new vision the pup saw for the first time its foster parent, and it saw daily its food parent, who was now beginning to lose her large, round underbelly from nearing her offspring's teething stage. And after another week and a half, she stopped coming altogether. From then on it was just the vulpix and the nidorina, who nurtured and kept the tiny fox as one of her own.

When the pup was nearly a month old, the nidorina occasionally took it down the stream in the midst of a vast field of long grasses and random shrubs. The pup followed the rodent everywhere, bounding around on stubby legs or looking around frantically when the female would hide itself behind a bush or a rock. By now, its tail had split into three appendages, and their rusty color was beginning to replace the pale tail. A small tuft of fur was beginning to grow on the top of its head as well, and an ever-thickening, rusty fuzz was also starting to spread its way across the pup where pale skin had once been. Every day the vulpix's eyes became more and more of an odd but beautiful cerulean color that made the nidorina come to love her adopted even more.

Once the pup had been weaned, the nidorina began bringing it whatever it ate: random berries or leaves or roots or whatever it could find lying around. The vulpix had never tasted the savor of meat before and it didn't even know that the flesh-food existed as what it was supposed to be eating. So for the months that passed afterwards, the vulpix fed like a nidorina, not that it knew any better. The nidorina showed the vulpix how to avoid predators and to dig for roots when food was scarce. There was little the nidorina mother could do to show her adopted defense however, seeing to the fact that neither of them knew the potential destructiveness that the little fireball could wield from its throat.

One day while the nidorina was drinking daintily at the streamside, a loud, crashing noise came from the distant hills. The vulpix, now nearly three and a half months old, was playing nearby and trotted over to the water's edge and vacantly began to lap up the cool water when the noise rang out. It raised its head and shifted its ears in every direction until it located the direction of the noise; from the east. Without moving its head, the whelp looked at the nidorina who was still as stone. Not even the usually frenzied nose of hers quivered or twitched- she was petrified. No one moved for what seemed like the longest time until the sound got so near that with the pair's keen eyes they could see a cluster of shadows rapidly approaching the den site. A few moments later as they became even nearer, the vulpix could see that they were riding atop creatures with glowing manes that wavered valiantly in the strong wind they were riding against.

Their riders were creatures of a race that the vulpix had never seen before, nor the nidorina. Their battle cries were harsh and unpleasant to the pair's sensitive ears that, when combined with the booming of the mount's hooves created a deafening drone that rung in the ears of every victim who heard.

They were nearer now; close enough now that the entire vast plain seemed to bow down to the arrival of such strangers. The riders were upon them now, and just moments before the nidorina bolted for the nest, calling at the top of its lungs for the vulpix to follow. The vulpix reached the jagged green stone that marked the burrow only a few moments away- it looked behind and saw the nidorina, desperately trying to avoid the thundering hooves that had so ominously descended upon them. The rodent dodged every which way, frantic and horrified; unsure of how to escape. The river of fiery horses seemed incessant and offering no way out. The vulpix pup scared, but valiantly dashed into the roaring mess of equine and stranger in a futile effort to rescue its mother. The pup looked hysterically in every direction for the crying nidorina and spotted her only a few bounds away, still amidst the pounding. A heavy foot landed right in front of the vulpix, making the whelp skid to a sudden stop and struggle to its feet again and hurdle more hooves to reach the azure rodent. She was just steps away; the vulpix would reach her- it reached out a paw to the mother who did the same and barely missed its safe grasp when it was suddenly swept away by a stray hoof and knocked unconscious to the damp grass. Not a second later another heavy foot came down unexpected and stuck the lifeless mammal in the skull, sending gushes of revolting blood in every direction, staining the dark grass and making the ground soggy. The fatal hoof had a few small blood stains too that stood out against its white hide as it pounded away. The vulpix waited a few moments until the last of the creatures had galloped away before it dragged its weary limbs over to the dead nidorina.

It nuzzled what was left of the beautiful creature's face, sobbing and mixing tears with red, vile blood. The vulpix nudged a bit harder and emitted soft, chanting cries hoping that it would rouse the mother back to life. But no such thing happened and the pup lie down next to its foster mother, laying its tiny head on its forepaws.

Around five minutes later a lone set of hoof beats came pounding back toward the murder scene. The vulpix didn't bother to look up, and only turned an ear when the sound of only a pair of feet approached it. The creature dismounted the rapidash and slowly bent down to the vulpix. When it still didn't look up, the creature scooped up the baby from the bloody ground, gently putting a hand over its tiny muzzle. The vulpix struggled; what was going on?

The tall creature returned to his mount and swung himself over its bare back. He held the vulpix firmly but gently in the crook of his arm, his hand still loosely clamped over the vulpine's snout. The other hand held a long cord that ran up to the head of the fiery beast they were sitting on top of. Its warm flames burned just a tiny reach from the tip of its nose, and yet it didn't seem to bother the strange creature in the least. With a quick snap of the string, the rapidash bolted off in the direction the stampede had gone. All the while the tiny vulpix squirmed and writhed within the strong clutch of the strange creature, but any efforts seemed but pin pricks to the big creature. After a minute of pointless struggle, the whelp relaxed under the bounce of the ride and let the inevitable take its course.

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

And that's the first chapter, and I'm aware that I haven't given a name or gender to our heroine yet, which will come in the second chapter. If you were confused about the title, those words are Latin for 'period of life' and 'infinite'. Kind of fitting I suppose, so….let me know what you think because my plans on how I am going to describe the history or the Pokemon world are somewhat sketchy right now.

Until next time, Crystalryu


	2. The First Life

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 2 – The First Life

Here's chapter two Enjoy!

'In the beginning there was darkness, only the touch of a gentle mother.

Then came sound and then smell, and then light came to the world, and you find that its nothing as you had imagined it to be while you were still blind.'

The young pup opened its cerulean eyes and blinked repeatedly, violently shaking its head to clear its senses. The nidorina was nowhere to be seen- then it remembered the previous day and being carried away against its will. This new place was flooding with more of the two-legged strangers. They were so foreign, so from the unknown that they seemed like gods or some other form of deity that no one lower than them could fathom.

Their actions also puzzled the vulpix; one female stranger was entwining long colorful strands of something on a large frame that looked like it was made from the trees. Another was grinding sharp stones against other stones- that seemed pointless. The vulpix looked around for others of its kind but there were none. Upon a second inspection it spotted a pair of the most peculiar creatures posted a ways away near a triangular house. The fox picked itself up and curiously trotted over to the pair of pink and black bovine that towered over the young vulpix. The pup plopped down on its stumpy hindquarters and examined the set of rosy steer with a neck stretched long and high to see their heads, which were quite a ways up.

A slight breeze blew past and sent dust all over the vulpine, making the baby sneeze. The sound caused one of the pair to glance down and notice the ball of orange fluff resting on the ground just in front of where it was standing.

The tiny vulpix stared up at the bright pair with a perplexed expression; head cocked to one side, an ear straying on the side lying flat, eyes dancing in wonder. The vulpix flinched when the large bovine suddenly spoke.

"Well, hello there little one. Who might you be?"

The pup didn't respond. The pink cow's voice was cheerful and inquisitive and seemed harmless. Then her partner spoke up.

"Well?" The vulpix shifted its gaze to the other bovine and she continued to stare upward in curiosity. The second cow lowered her head to face the vulpix as far as her loosely tied rope permitted.

"You seem like a nice young one. Do you have a name?" All the vulpix could do was shake its head violently to the sides, trying to somehow get the cow to understand that it was of no name or origin that it knew of as of now.

"That's alright dear," the first miltank said in her loving voice. "Why don't you go off and explore a bit. "

The tiny pup nodded gleefully and started to prance away.

"And if you ever need anything, we'll always be here, love- we're a bit 'tied up' at the moment though," The first miltank whacked her partner upside the head with a hoof.

"That was sad..." She whispered.

The second miltank spoke again after she had regained her consciousness. "I'm Moon, and my sister here is Sun." Again the vulpix acknowledged the pair with a wagging three tails and trotted away.

This place was enormous. Large, triangular shelters stood towering over the pup who was barely one and a half hands high itself. The two legged strangers were scarcely clothed, save for some females, who wore long coverings of deep and intricate shades. As it continued exploring, a few children ran by, playing an innocent game of tag.

The whelp stopped short to avoid getting trampled. Then something caught its eye; something raging to the side in some sort of pit. The vulpix slowly ambled over to the mystical glow, and the heat of it alone made the whelp reluctant to approach. Its curiosity, however, moved it onward until it stopped right in front of the orange inferno. It stared at the colors in wonder, slowly leaning unconsciously to get closer. The pup jerked and stared to fall in but was swooped away with a harsh limb and crashed to the sand below.

When it had regained its senses the pup looked up at the inferno, and the creature standing next to the flame that had swatted at it. It was about four hands high at the shoulder, a glowing orange, and a fluffy white tail and head tuft. Black stripes ran along its back. The growlithe stood valiantly before the whelp with a stern but caring look in his eyes. He waited until the pup was relaxed before he spoke.

"That's not exactly safe you know." The vulpix looked innocently at the flame and back at the growlithe, lowering its ears and head. The growlithe's voice was a deep tone, but not of one too old and it came accrossed as friendly but the male's tone made it seem otherwise.

The growlithe rose to its feet and paced over to the pup, which lay down now and roll onto its back, showing its lightly-shaded belly. The dog circled the pup several times to inspect it, and when it saw the submissiveness of the vulpix it sat down again near it. He now wore a warm, loving smile and his eyes became welcoming as well, which put the tiny vulpix at ease.

His voice became soft in addition. "Now what's your name little fella?"

The vulpix didn't respond.

"Not much of a talker, eh? Well, that's alright. You'll warm up to this place real quick like. But stay away from that fire, it's not safe." He gestured with a paw to the left. The vulpix's eyes followed the orange paw back to the heat.

"I know it's early but eventually, and probably the one who found you, someone will take you in as their own and you'll be expected to do certain tasks for them." The pup looked confused. "That's ok; you don't need to understand right now. In the meantime you can hang with me and I'll show you around- tell you about this place. You could use a bit of getting used to. Come with me and we'll take a walk. By the way, my name's Kapok"

The vulpix rose to its feet and eagerly trotted after Kapok. It followed him down a long clearing of shelters, which the strangers were frantically going in and out of. This confused the vulpix once more. Kapok saw the confoundness in his friend's eyes and explained.

"Those are humans. They protect us and provide us with food, company and shelter in return for favors on our part." The pup still held a baffled expression. "We meaning the animals. Those two miltank I saw you talking with earlier, those twins are almost never apart. They were born about the same time as I, and I've watched them grow up into _the _fattest hunks of beef you'll ever see." Kapok laughed to himself.

"Anyways, those two provide milk for the humans. I'm sure you've had milk sometime in your life, right?" The vulpix stopped in its tracks at the word. It suddenly thought of the nidorina, and how it had been killed by the hooves of death the day before. The vulpix remembered nothing, however, of its mother before meeting the nidorina. It had been too young. Then the pup started to swell up with tears in its eyes. The baby then began tiny sobs and whines that made Kapok look over his shoulder and comfort the pup with its warm fur and tongue.

When it had calmed down, the vulpix rose to its feet again and continued its walk with Kapok. He told the vulpix many things about the humans, including the way they ate, their customs and how that some even still remained a mystery to Kapok, and how the humans interacted with the animals. The entire time, the vulpix looked around it in curiosity at all the things that these strange creatures did. Kapok then spoke of what would become of the pup.

"You know, the man who brought you back is a very kind human, despite how intimidating he may seem. He will most likely call you his own, and then you'll get a name. His name is Laske and he is the brother of my human, Dusty Murkrow. He is a good man also."

The vulpix continued to stare with an infantile speculation at the growlithe. He explained some more.

"When Laske finally-" Kapok stopped when he saw Laske swiftly approaching. Dusty Murkrow was standing a short way behind him, carrying some wood. Kapok bounded over to him, leaving the vulpix behind for Laske to pick up. The vulpix trembled as he scooped it up with his large, strong hands and swung it over his shoulder, walking back to where Kapok had swatted the pup away from the fire.

Laske gently dumped the whelp back on the sand, and leaned down over the pup. He ran his hand slowly down its side and then lightly rolled the vulpix over onto its back, inspecting its underside. Laske stood up and put his hands on his hips. He called over to a human that the vulpix did not know.

"Yes, this one is a female, she is- a pretty one too. Just look at that smooth, shiny coat she's got there."

The strange human replied, "What are you going to call her?" The tiny pup still trembled on the cold, gritty sand as the humans conversed over it. The whelp had little idea of what exactly they were speaking of, although she knew it was of her.

Laske paused and thought for a moment. "I am not sure…how about Veri? Is that a fitting name for this creature?"

The strange human looked the pup over from a distance and slowly spoke, "Red Wolf…that seems to go well with her paint. I think so." The two humans discussed something that the vulpix could not understand and then the unfamiliar one went away.

Once Laske had scooped Veri up again, he carried her up a hill to a triangular shelter that Kapok had said the humans used for homes and were uniquely built to be disassembled quickly when the pack of humans was ready to move again. He had said that every few moons the male humans would go out, taking the animals that bore flesh-tearing teeth, and chases the huge herds of tauros that they followed. And many times the males would return with large pieces of the kills and discard nothing. The animals were rewarded as well with large portions of the kill.

Laske set Veri on a soft cushion inside one of the larger shelters, and left through the door so that the tiny vulpix was alone.

A/N: Well, there's chapter two. Hope it was as good as the second chapter, and I'm really sorry about the long wait. Since these are especially long chapters, they take me awhile to do. Well, there's not too much else to say except thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and I'll have the third chapter posted sometime before the end of February.


	3. Company at Last

Aetas Inifinitas

Chapter Three- Friends

"_Friends come and go, but family will be with you forever. If your family leaves you, your friends become your family and you rely on one another for even the smallest troubles…"_

I've finally finished chapter three, hope you all like it.

Veri sat alone, or so she thought, watching the flap of cloth that covered the door, hoping that Laske would return. When he did not, Veri lowered herself to a laying position and rested her head on aching front paws. After a moment of silence, save for the rushing of wind past the door, the vulpix heard something shift behind her. First an ear turned, and then she raised her whole head and looked for what had moved.

Veri's eyes would have missed it if the shady figure nestled in the back corner of the shelter hadn't fidgeted again. When the object became more focused, Veri could see that it was a female human, clothed in colors much brighter than the vulpix had seen worn by the females outside. She had two, long, black braids that fell all the way to the floor from her sitting position and her hand was slightly outstretched; holding something that smelled wonderful.

Veri's instinct made her wary, but the battle between instinct and hunger in the young vulpine was leaning in favor of her appetite. Veri couldn't clearly make out what it was by sight; even with her sharp eyes. The smell of the chunk of mystery was mouth watering however. Slowly but surely Veri rose to her feet and paced over to the girl's hand.

Her tiny nose quivered and a tiny pink tongue crept out of the rusty vulpine's delicate muzzle. It smelled of blood but only faintly and the chunk was drizzled with something delicious. The girl made no more noise and Veri greedily took the morsel from her hand.

It tasted- sweet and Veri found that her tiny teeth chewed it with ease. A new sensation came over the puppy, the stringy food suddenly made Veri feel older and perhaps stronger. Veri has just had her first taste of the very definition of a carnivore- meat. When she had finished with the small bite, Veri plopped down on her haunches to try and remove a string of the food from her teeth.

Then the girl, who had watched the whole time, extended her hand farther and pat Veri on the head, and then her long nails scratched gently behind Veri's ear. This was comfort. Veri extended her neck and leaned in farther against the girl's hand as the caressing got even more sensational. All of a sudden Veri's right leg began to rapidly move up and down; Veri hadn't made her leg do that…The human girl giggled that of a young child and put her other hand forth to draw Veri nearer to her. Veri tensed up, but let the girl rake her in. She only relaxed when she found herself cradled in the girl's arms, and a hand was stroking he head again.

Veri relaxed so much that her entire back end went numb and upon feeling the discomfort she sprang out of the girl's arms. The young girl was surprised and laughed even harder than before when Veri began walking around dragging her lifeless legs in a crooked circle like a broken cart. The girl thought it was funny but Veri did not. She noticed her tails and chased them in a tight circle several times before landing in a heap on the floor. Now the feeling returned to her legs and Veri pranced back over to the girl, three crimson tails waggling elated behind her along with a huge, sunny, canine-like smile. She liked this new human. She wasn't as big and bulky as the other humans Veri had experienced since she had arrived at this place.

Veri nuzzled the girl's arm and turned to leave, trotting out the door flap, tails vibrating with joy. Once outside, Veri looked around for Kapok, but he was nowhere to be seen. With nothing much else to do, Veri decided to go exploring again. There she found another interesting group of specimens fenced in a somewhat large area in the far corner of the human encampment-these must have been the rapidash from yesterday. Veri backed away suddenly at the vision of the gored nidorina and wanted to leave. Once again however her childish curiosity moved her onward to squeeze under the fencing.

The herd of fiery horses was fairly spread out in the fenced area; Veri counted twelve but there must have been four times as many in the stampede. She ambled curiously to the middle of the circle and sat down waiting to be noticed. A few minutes passed and no one paid any heed to her- she must have been much too small for creatures eleven times her size to notice. A large rapidash vacantly strolled past Veri. Now growing impatient, Veri barked almost chirping-like barks in hopes of someone taking notice of her. This worked quite well, she found, for several of the more aware rapidash flickered an ear and made their way over to the pint-sized creature making a ruckus at their feet. The largest of the bunch stepped up closest to Veri and kneeled down on his forelegs to get as close as he could to the interruption of his meal. A ponyta trailed behind him.

"Now what are you young one?" the sturdy horse still had a chunk of grass hanging out of his mouth and his voice was deep and masculine. Veri just sat and looked around at the various rapidash around her. The male addressed her again.

"One of the silent ones, eh? That's alright. I'm Shintoi."

Veri's mind wandered elsewhere while Shintoi rambled on about the dryness of the grass in one particular area of the field. That was when she spotted it; a lone rapidash grazing at the far corner of the pen. Its slightly bloody ankle stood out against its white hide like stained snow. Veri's childish anger wanted her to run over and vengefully nip at the creatures ankles.

Sudden she realized that would not solve anything because the humans controlled where they went, not to mention that she would most likely get trampled. Veri sighed in an effort to release any extra anger. She turned her attention back to Shintoi, who was still on his tangent, completely unaware of his listener's absentmindedness. Still tuned out, Veri guessed that Shintoi wasn't the brightest star in the sky. His size however gave others the opposite first impression.

She looked back at him and averted her head to glance at the ponyta behind him. The colt was bouncing up and down at a passing butterfree with wings shimmering in the sunlight. Now Veri was itching to go play with someone her own age. She glanced repeatedly at Shintoi and back at the ponyta. Then he stopped his blabbering and apparently had asked Veri a question.

"You can go play with him if you'd like." He nodded and Veri excitedly bounded over to the romping foal.

The young ponyta was still leaping up and down in an effort to get the hovering butterfree to come down. He reared up on his hind legs, kicking his forefeet while whinnying loudly. When he came back down he noticed Veri perched on a small rock near him.

"Hey, who are you?" The ponyta's eyes lit up and his voice was young and friendly. Veri, too shy to speak, raised her ears and three tiny tails thumped on the ground. The ponyta seemed confused.

"Why don't you tell me your name? I don't bite; well, mostly." He grinned and took another leap at the butterfree.

"Well, whatever. Name's Koi." Koi raised an eyebrow with surprise. From underneath Veri's rusty fur she flushed in embarrassment.

Koi paused and when she noticed his sprouting impatience she mustered up all she had and greeted him.

"I…I…My name is…Veri," This was nearly the first time the tiny vulpix had ever spoken. Despite play with the nidorina Veri was quite shy.

Koi seemed satisfied with her response and trotted closer to her. Once he stopped pestering the butterfree, it chirped angrily and fluttered away. Koi looked Veri over, circling her and finally plopped down on his haunches.

"You don't seem so bad" He said at last. "Kind of shy but okay. So why did you decide to pay a visit to the pen? Bored maybe? If so I understand completely. The only other one my age around here was a filly, my best friend. But she died a few weeks ago from somethin'. Said she got it at birth."

Veri looked around as if she expected to see another ponyta prancing around. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "I lost my mother too. She was stepped on yesterday."

Koi saw the sadness in Veri's voice and nudged her head up with his muzzle with hopeful eyes that brightened Veri's spirits a bit.

"Try not to think about it too much. Kipa was like my sister but the dead can't come back so we just have to deal with it until we take dirt naps ourselves." Koi oddly put a positive perspective on death that Veri had never thought about before but perhaps he was right. The dead couldn't come back. Little did she know however that death would become the very theme of her life until she died.

Over the next few months Veri began visiting Koi more and more, and each day gradually brought her out of her shell. Kapok often looked in on Veri when she wasn't with Koi. Veri also found the last of her six tails growing in, and reaching her mature height of six hands high at the head. One of the most significant events of her life occurred when Kapok approached her one day with some personally startling news.

And that's the third chapter I guess. I don't plan to add any new characters for awhile, so that'll keep things a little easier and whatnot. Some important things are going to be happening to Veri in the next couple of chapters and I'm a little anxious to get them down. Thanks again to everyone for reviewing; it makes me want to keep going.

The next chapter should be ready by March 5th or so. (I want to be persistent with the chapter or I'll fall behind and accidentally forget about it )

Update note, thanks to foxyjosh I noticed that they didn't have crayons back then- so I changed it to the suggestion. Thanks again!


	4. Firemaker

Well, here is chapter four. I'm so sorry that it took me so long- between family crisis and being sick several times over the past month, its been hard to find motivation but the fifth chapter should be up in less than a day or so to make up for the time.

Oh, before I forget, Antithesis, I know that Veri's descriptions seem a bit odd, as they are just as difficult to write, as they are to read I'm sure of it. But you also have to remember that she is very young and as she grows, so will her perception of the world, which is why I'm looking forward to the later sections of this story.

Alright…

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Four- Firemaker

Veri sat on the large stone inside the rapidash fence waiting for Kapok to arrive. The previous day he had mentioned that he had something interesting to tell her. Koi was spread out on his side nearby sleeping under the warm summer sun. Finally Kapok came trotting eagerly toward them, carrying several large twigs between his jaws.

He sat down near the rock and dropped the sticks when he reached them.

"Good afternoon Veri," he said in a cheerful voice, looking at her and then over at the snoring Koi. A quick look of irritation came across Kapok's face when he saw Koi, but returned to normal when he looked back at Veri.

"So what's the news Kapok?" Veri leaped off the stone and picked up one of the twigs, violently shaking it around in a playful sort of way.

"You see that stuff coming out of Koi's neck and butt, and the glowing air the humans can create?" Veri wagged her tails excitedly. "Well, you can make that yourself. I'm not sure why, but only certain types of us animals can make it from scratch. I thought it was about time that you learned how to use it."

Veri's excitement roused the sleeping ponyta, who rolled over so that he could stagger to his feet and reposition himself near the pair.

Kapok tossed a twig to Koi and told him to hold it out by one end. Koi reluctantly did as he was told and moved so that it was in front of the growlithe.

"Now," Kapok said, "Just take a deep breathe, tighten up the back of your throat, and blow out." He did so with ease and a tiny spoof of flame was set to the tip of the twig, not nearly as brightly glowing however as Veri's expression.

"Wow, that's amazing. Let me try!"

"Okay, go ahead." Kapok made Koi hold out another stick. Veri's tiny body was trembling but she relaxed once she closed her eyes and took a breath. Veri blew out and nothing happened. The vulpix opened her eyes and saw that the stick was not alight. She looked back at Kapok with disappointed eyes, but his own were hopeful.

"Veri, its okay. Just try again." Veri closed her eyes for the second time and breathed out. She plastered a big grin to her muzzle once she saw a tiny flame flickering at the end of the stick.

"See? I told you. Pretty neat huh?"

Veri's tails wagged as fast as they would go with their innocent, childlike joy as fuel. The trio spent nearly an hour playing with fire until Kapok suddenly paused and tried to get the attention of the other two.

"You two, I almost completely forgot. There's something that I was supposed to tell you right away."

They both looked at him in confusion.

"What is it then? If it was so important, why didn't you say anything earlier?" Koi asked suspiciously.

"Never mind that," Kapok replied, shaking his head with annoyance. "I overheard some humans talking this morning about leaving. We are going to be heading south. My human already had his shelter packed up this morning."

Veri's curiosity was growing by the second.

"Kapok, why are we moving? Do you know where we're going?" A million questions were forming in her head all of a sudden.

Her friend sighed. "I'm not exactly sure; I've only been on one of these moves in my entire lifetime and I was younger when it happened, so I don't remember much. Remember what I said about the tauros though? My best guess is that the herd is shifting again, so to keep up with the hunts the humans must migrate with them."

"Well then I'm going to travel with you." Veri said, half eager, half nervous.

"That's fine." Kapok looked around him for Koi, who had mysteriously disappeared. He spotted him on the other side of the pen near his father. "I'm sure that our humans will travel together, so we can travel together as well."

Off in the middle of the camp Laske was calling to Veri. An ear twitched and she looked behind her before looking back at Kapok and bounding away. Once she had left, Kapok contently rose to his feet and trotted over to the fence, where he squeezed under the hole he had dug to ease his way into the meeting place as her grew. Dusty Murkrow was standing near a rapidash and he greeted the growlithe with open arms. Kapok leapt into his friend, smothering him with wet, canine kisses.

Veri wandered into the tent where she had met the strange human girl the summer before. The girl often played with Veri, and over the seasons they had discovered several games that became a daily routine.

The girl was not here now, but Veri found her setting a pack upon another rapidash near Laske. Once again Laske was calling out to Veri from where a packed-up shelter had been. He scooped her up in his arms as always and carried her a few paces away to where several other humans were gathered around a fire. The now pitch-dark sky was sprinkled with an uncountable number of stars. Every now and then the vulpix would see shadows drifting silently across the night sky with outstretched wings that seemed to span from one end of the camp to the other. As Laske set Veri down on her back near the girl, where she was no sooner in a deep sleep.

The next morning she awoke groggily to the bustle of humans and animals everywhere. Veri stretched herself casually and playfully spat a tiny wisp of flame in the sand. She looked over at the fire pit, now reduced to only a few shards of woods and a winding stream of smoke drifting upwards from the faintly crackling embers.

The next moment Veri saw Kapok trying to get her attention from across the cleared camp. She eagerly ran over to him, dodging rapidash and human feet as she made her way to him, where Kapok playfully tackled his friend. Once they both sat themselves upright Kapok spoke in his usual, pleasant tone.

"Veri, I think that the humans are about to leave, so why don't you come with me now so that you don't get lost in all the commotion." He looked around at the bustle of activity preparing to make their mass departure.

"Alright," she replied cheerfully and got up to follow him.

Within the hour the entire group of humans was slowly making its way across the plains. In the distance behind them Veri could see mountains rising up from the flat land, however the rolling hills ahead of them prevented her from seeing what was to come. Quite a ways ahead of them she spotted Moon and Sun ambling deftly beside a human, and although it was easy to pick out Koi from the group by his size, Veri had a more difficult time locating his father.

Once she had sorted out her friends Veri returned to Kapok's side. The first day the human ensemble traveled until nightfall, and during day one Kapok entertained the young vulpine with seemingly endless stories of creatures of the fantastic and of legend. Being told that they were only myth made them seem all the more real to Veri.

"Tell me the one with the bird of fire in it again. I like that one the best."

Kapok smiled warmly at the enthusiasm of his young friend and cleared his throat.

"The legend of the fire bird goes back for countless generations of every animal that wields the flame." This part Kapok made his voice turn sinister and mysterious to add to the drama. "The bird was said to have been born from the ashes of a burning forest. It came right from an egg that just appeared one day from the flames. Once it hatched, the baby took flight right away and flew around the burning woods, trying to put it out. When it found that it couldn't do so because that it was full of flames as well, the bird then took a trip around the world looking for someone that could help it put out the forest." Veri was still listening as attentively as ever. "It took the bird four hundred years to look, but it never found anyone to help it. By this time the bird was becoming of age and needed rest. They say it laid itself down and once its own flames consumed it, a new bird appeared from the ashes. The new bird then spent its lifetime looking for someone to help put out the forest. The line of birds has been looking for someone to help put out the forest since the beginning of time."

Veri's amazed expression told Kapok that somehow that one particular story would never get old. This notion was confirmed when Veri piped up with yet another one of her questions.

"Kapok, where do you get all these stories from? They don't sound like you're making them up but its seems like you know too many of them for them to be fake."

The growlithe was surprised at the vulpix's question.

"Well, before the humans found me, I was a member of a special pack of growlithe. My family was one of the storyteller packs. From the first day I could hear, my grandparents told me story after story about the myths and legends of our world. They repeated them often, so that I would never forget. They also told my brothers and I stories of what was to come. We never believed them though, because somehow we found it hard to believe that the future could be predicted. I still remember those stories, but sometimes I regret having to know them. Some of them are not the most pleasant tales you'll ever hear."

Kapok's saddening tone gave Veri a similar mood. As she stared down at the grass passing beneath them she asked Kapok to tell her a story that told about the future.

He was even more surprised at this question. He didn't want to dampen Veri's excited exposition so he tried to come up with an excuse.

"Veri, I wish I could but some of them are just too dark for someone your age." He was partially right, a few of the tales were dark and foreshadowing, so that wasn't much of an excuse.

"That doesn't bother me, and besides, we've got a long ways to go…I think…" Kapok sighed again and thought of a story to tell his persistent friend.

"Okay, I don't know why I chose this one but I guess it'll have to do. My grandmother told me that a long time from now, she wasn't exactly sure when, but long from now another creature will become as seemingly numerous as the stars in the sky and will begin to slowly claim the 'lesser' creatures of this world. While some are kind and gentle, others have only a lust for deeds and things that only benefit themselves."

"Kapok, what do you mean, 'lesser'? Aren't all things equal? That's what the alpha human teaches."

"Veri, like I said before, I'm not exactly sure. In fact I prefer not to tell these tales. I honestly wish that I could tell you more but I don't know much more than you do. I suppose we'll find out someday."

"Well what happened to your family?"

Kapok stopped dead in his tracks when she mentioned the whereabouts of his family. The line was moving on next to them and Veri turned around to question Kapok why he had stopped.

"I…I…don't know Veri. A flood washed them away during the rainy season and the next morning my human found me huddled to a small tree that had only its top branches above the water. I was only a few months old then." Veri spied the beginnings of tears forming in the fur underneath his eyes.

"Kapok, I'm sorry. I didn't…know." She too looked down and when he saw her sadden as well, he instantly missed her cheerful, overjoyed face and attempted to revive it.

"Veri, it's okay. It really is. You didn't know. You were just being curious and that's to be expected. Don't feel bad." He noticed a slight increase in her mood but it seemed to not be enough.

"Would you like a ride?"

She perked up her ears and looked at him, her eyes still faintly glazed over.

"Sure," and she hopped up on his back.

Well, there's chapter four. I've got chapter five nearly finished so expect that up within a day or so. Thanks again for all your wonderful reviews so far. :p


	5. Withdrawal

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Five- Withdrawal Pt1

Okay, here's chapter five right away to make up for that delay.

And yeah, Kapok does have a unique past of his own. That and himself will be important much later. :D

The first night the entire human group assembled in a large circle around smaller campfires. This night however wasn't starry as the last one. The sky was overcast with clouds that had crept up upon the travelers during the dusk hours. Veri followed Kapok to where he bedded down for the night and curled up next to him. She felt safe as usual, but had a difficult time falling asleep with all that she had learned that day about Kapok. He seemed content with his new human family, but when reminded of his natural parents he froze, like it was something more than just sorrowfully losing ones family. Something seemed to Veri, although she couldn't quite put a paw on it, that Kapok's story-telling family didn't just tell tales for entertainment or remembrance. She couldn't figure out what came after that though- why those stories even existed and were worth passing on. All the mixed and jumbled thoughts finally put the vulpix into a light sleep.

Kapok awoke before her, of course, and roused the fox from a restless sleep. Veri half-eyed got to her feet and shook her coat out like a wet dog. Once her cerulean eyes were wide enough to make out the departing group, she eagerly followed Kapok back into the forming line.

The caravan continued on for all of the second day, and Veri was surprised when they did not stop for the night.

"Kapok, why aren't we making camp for the night?"

"I can't explain that one to you Veri- I don't even know myself," he changed his course a bit and galloped to a cart just ahead of them. He swiped a hunk of meat from the top that was sticking out of a wrap of tanned pelt. Kapok tossed a piece of it to Veri. It took her quite a long amount of time to get all the meat down; it wasn't a very large piece but eating on the go was difficult for someone with such stubby legs.

About mid-day Veri was surprised to hear that Kapok had run out of stories to tell. Instead, they chatted about other things such as the weather or what they had seen alongside the path that day. Kapok wasn't normally good at keeping things he knew hidden, but his attempts to act as though he truly had run out of stories was enough to keep Veri's attention off of the subject. The clouds returned later in the night and made the evening quite dreary. Every now and then the moon would peak out from behind the cloud cover and raise Veri's spirits until it disappeared again.

Other than random bushes and a few lone tauros, the pair saw nothing else along the trail besides grass and rocks and more grass. She was beginning to get extremely drowsy when they suddenly stopped.

"Veri...Veri..." Kapok was whispering and poking her with a paw.

"Wh- what?" She yawned.

"We're finally stopping. Come lay down over here with me and you can get back to sleep."

She drowsily trailed over to where Kapok turned around in a circle several times before curling up into an orange ball of fluff illuminated by the now fully emerging moon.

The third day the humans did not leave until later in the day when the sun was at its highest. Kapok slept most of the day strangely on the back of a rapidash that had no pack. Without him to talk to, Veri decided to go and find Koi.

She found him on the opposite side of the line, a bulging sack roped around his girth that smelled of dry fur. He was being led by a young girl that Veri wasn't familiar with.

"Hello Koi, I haven't talked to you in a few days and thought I should come and see how things are going," she glanced up at the pack again. "Doesn't that bother you?" Veri asked with an inquisitive tone.

"No, not really. In fact I hardly feel anything its so light. What about you? Where have you been?"

He suddenly staggered a bit but recovered his steps easily. From her low position Veri spied a peculiar cut on his right foreankle.

"I've been traveling with Kapok. He knows hundreds of stories about the strangest things. You should hear some sometime."

Koi shook his mane and snorted. "Kapok...pft. He's been nothing but rash and overtaking to me since the winter ended. And I have absolutely no idea why. I really don't think very highly of that dog anymore."

Veri sighed in disappointment. She had noticed Kapok's attitude toward Koi before but hadn't really stopped to think about the reason. Then she realized her foolishness in not asking him why he was being so demanding. That was something that now bothered her all of a sudden.Lately she had become more and more aware of the fact that she was too childish for her own comfort. It didn't seem reasonable, either, to want to fix such a silly characteristic of her personality. She supposed that it would go away with time. After all, she was only just over a year old and wouldn't be of full maturity and mating age for another year.

The two discussed random topics as Kapok and her had done the day before. There wasn't much else to talk about while on the move across such a wide and empty prairie anyways.

The speed of the line suddenly picked up a bit, apparently reminding Koi of something he had heard.

"Oh, hey Veri." Her ears perked up and she looked at him. "I overheard some humans talking last night and they said that they expect us to arrive sometime tomorrow."

"Arrive..."

"I don't know. To the next permanent campsite I guess. They said there are lots of tauros on the far horizon."

Veri licked her tiny chops at the thought of fresh meat.

"Well its about time. I can't travel fast on such short legs and its getting boring walking through days and days of nothing."Although she was complaining, Veri held a strange smile on her face.

"I think I'm going to go back and see if Kapok's awake yet. I'll see you probably tomorrow when we stop, okay? Bye." Veri broke her position and ran back down the line.

Kapok was awake when she returned to her place in line, and he greeted her with an enthusiastic bark and a play bow. Veri told him the news she had heard from Koi and he was silent for a moment in thought.

Veri questioned him on what he was thinking about.

"Well, I'm just trying to calculate how far we've traveled and the time that we've been moving. I can't exactly pinpoint it though."

She, too tried to figure out where they had been and how far they'd come, but she got lost in her figuring and gave up.

"What do you think our new home will be like?" she curiously asked him.

He looked down at her with an expression of feebleness at her question.

"Veri, I'm not sure about that either. I'm not sure about a lot of things. The new site will probably be just like the last one, maybe near a lake or something. We'll just have to wait and see."

There she did it again. Veri inwardly slapped herself for letting it slip again. What a dumb question. It was now that she realized that this was something she would have to fix for herself.

The group traveled on until nightfall where a small camp fire was made as usual and then departed early the next morning. After only three hours of travel the pair of canines could see an enormous cluster of brown on the nearest horizon when their place in line passed over a large hill. Cheers seemed to rise up among the humans down the entire caravan as the cluster got larger and larger. Once they were within a reasonable distance of the huge herd of grazers, the humans began to slowly disassemble the rapidash packs. It was not until two nights later everything was back to the way it had been.

The third morning after their arrival, Veri woke up and stretched as usual, yawned and stood up to stare at the nearly fully risen sun. The past few days she had spent the entire time with Kapok, and had completely forgotten about her promise to visit Koi again. It wasn't that she was becoming less fond of him, it was just an anxious desire to be alongside Kapok more often. She hopped down from the stone she had fallen asleep on the night before and trotted lightheartedly over to the new location of the rapidash pen. As she neared the fence, she couldn't make out a sight of the ponyta. She spotted his father grazing in a rather sour manner in the farthest corner of the pen.

Veri bounded over to him, her ears set high in hopefulness but her eyes filled with worry.

"Shin...Shintoi...?" She slowed her steps and paced warily over to him.

When he didn't respond, she walked around to where he hung his head low to the ground. She looked up quickly and noticed that his flames were not burning as high as they normally were. Veri looked back at him.

"What is it little one?" His voice was the lowest tone Veri had ever heard in her entire life and he spoke very slowly.

"Wh- where's Koi? I told him back when we were traveling that I would come visit him and I got distracted for a few days so I'm here to visit now," Veri spoke as warily as she had approached. Obviously something was wrong.

Shintoi seemed to shudder when she mentioned his son's name.

"He's gone. About a day and a half ago he just mysteriously laid down and passed away. No one can figure out why. I took a look at his body later that day and I found deep scratches on his underbelly and strange red markings on his ankles. Looked like some kind of disease I guess. Other than that I'm not really sure what happened."

The instant she heard that he was gone, Veri's ears dropped their lowest and she sank to her haunches. Shintoi seemed to turn away as well and slowly moved aside to 'graze' some more.

Veri slunk back to where she had seen Kapok last. She hadn't been as close to Koi as she was to Kapok, but still- she had seen him often and was a dear friend. It also puzzled her what had killed him- was it really a disease? There weren't many predators that she knew of on the plains, and the humans only slaughtered an animal of their own when food was extremely scarce.

That night Veri had a difficult time sleeping, even when she was next to Kapok. She tossed and turned continuously until dawn. When the sunrise finally did hit, Veri slept in much later than usual and it wasn't until dusk when she was woken by Kapok.

"Hey, Veri?" He nudged her with his muzzle and then batted her gently with a paw. She shifted and then stirred, and finally she opened her cerulean eyes and stared up at Kapok.

"Hey...I heard about...Koi..."

Veri was silent.

"I'm sorry about your loss. He's probably in a better place now."

As much as Veri wanted that comment to ease her grief, it did nothing.

Veri recovered rather quickly, and thought little of it a week afterwards. A tiny welt of guilt was lingering deep inside Veri's heart however, for not feeling much for her lost friend, but then again, she couldn't force herself to feel sad either.

With the new home in full swing now and everything back to normal, Kapok took Veri exploring to various places around the human camp. Some nights they laid together under the stars, and Kapok would tell Veri stories that he knew of the pictures in the stars, and the origins of different places and nature, all that made Veri more intrigued of how her friend knew of all these stories, especially from having learned them so young.

One day while sitting in the long grass between the lake and the camp, Kapok tried to start a game of tag. Veri was perched on a stone on the shore overlooking the water when he crept up behind her and pounced, sending them both into the shallows. Kapok almost instantly leapt from the shallows and back onto the shore, where he violently shook himself dry. Veri however was not phased in the least by the lake. She dove into the deeper water and paddled around like there was no tomorrow. Kapok saw her 'invulnerability' and nearly fell backward. She dove under and came back up several times before returning to the shore with a shake of her coat. Kapok was still staring at her with wide eyes.

"Well...that was strange." His mouth now hung open.

She cast him an odd look.

"What's wrong with that? It was fun."

"Nothing is wrong with you swimming, its just, unusual for a someone like you to take so easy to the water. A light rain chills me to the bone."

"I figured in a way that something wasn't right, but after just now, I love swimming. I really wish you didn't mind it, its so much fun!" Veri shook her coat again and the whiplash traveled down

the longest of her tails and flicked off of the end.

"I do too. You looked like you enjoy yourself, so you have something to do now other than hang with me." He smiled his friendliest.

The two began a game of tag for the second time. Kapok ran after Veri first, but stopped short when she suddenly disappeared. Crouched low in the tall grass behind him Veri pounced on the growlithe, but his large tail rebounded her off into the sand. He turned his head and chased her down again back towards the lake. Veri stood on her hind legs and changed direction once more back in the direction of the camp. The vulpix was enjoying the free run so much that she absentmindedly shot a stream of flames into the air and directed it all around her in a spiral as she turned in mid-run.

Kapok smiled at his friends show of joy and slowed his run to a walk. His expression changed immediately though when he spied a flicker of light in the grass where Veri had just past. He tried to run towards it but could not close the distance fast enough before it caught fire to the dry grasses all around them . Veri turned around smiling but nearly skidded into a rock at the sight of an enormous clump of flame and smoke raging between them and spreading by the second. Kapok leapt through the flames and pushed alongside Veri to get her to run. The pair ran straight towards the camp barking at the top of their lungs to rouse the alarm. Strangely, no one heeded their call however, because the instant no one responded, Kapok thought back to the old encampment when Veri and himself often returned from play howling and barking for pleasure. After awhile everyone became accustomed to it.

Kapok picked up his speed and ran directly into the middle of the camp and let out a long, drowning howl. He wailed as he ran a short distance towards the approaching wildfire and when Veri reached his side he noticed the first human look up and saw the fire heading rapidly towards them. Then everyone noticed. The camp, peaceful just moments before now erupted into a sheer battlefield of chaos. As humans frantically ran about trying to clear children and the elderly, Kapok noticed that no one was opening the gate to the rapidash pen. He scrambled towards it and threw up his head to release the latch. Once the gate was open the rapidash galloped out, nostrils flaming and manes burning higher than ever.

Kapok turned to run but out of the corner of his eye caught Shintoi still in the corner of the pen he had been since they had arrived. Kapok called to him as loud as he could, and was almost certain the old horse could hear him but he made no effort to move. Flames rushed into the pen and burned the light wooden fencing instantly as the heat intensified. He heard Veri calling him a few bounds away and looking back at the pen, he galloped off after her. Instead of following the crowd to the high hill, he realized he was following Veri away from them towards the edge of the plains where the brush began to thicken into a forest. He stopped her once the cries of the humans had become very distant.

He rushed around to where she could see him.

"What's wrong with you? Where are we going?"

She was silent for a moment and closed her eyes.

"Veri answer me! Why aren't we back with our humans? They're in danger back there and instead you led me here? Answer me Veri!"

She was quiet before she spoke.

"Kapok, don't you understand? I can't go back. Everyone will know that I started it and they would drive me away anyways."

"How do you know that? How would they know that it was you and not me, or maybe one on the rapidash?" His voice intensified to a point where Veri sunk even lower.

"Because, Kapok. The rapidash don't go near the lake except to drink and you are older and more experienced with your fire. They'll almost surely know it was me. I'm young and, well, it just has to be this way."

He moved his head so that it was under hers and growled.

"Veri, you don't get it do you. The odds of you getting sent away are very slim, if not at all. Your human loves you."

"Kapok...I can't I'm sorry." She spoke very slowly.

"But..."

"I have to leave. There's no life for me here anymore. I'll be fine on my own."

"Veri, you're still nearly a pup. Something could happen to you in the blink of an eye and I would never know it."

In the midst of her despair she perked up her ears.

"Kapok, why don't you come with me? We're friends, and it would be good company."

The question struck the growlithe like an arrow to the heart.

"Veri, you're not serious are you? I mean, really. I can't just leave."

"They'd think that you passed away in the fire. I want you to come. I really d-"

He stopped her with a glare.

"Veri, I'm sorry. I can't just leave my human like that. He- he saved me."

At these words Veri dropped her ears and backed away.

"Kapok..."

"I want to but I just can't."

As dusk set upon the prairie, he watched his friend disappear into the thickening brush. He knew that his species lived long and somehow he hoped that he would meet her again.

Veri watched the male growlithe disappear behind the bushes as she ventured deeper into the woods. As she ran she could smell burning air that the downwind breeze carried towards her flight. Once night fell on the still running vulpix, an even greater distant howl could be heard echoing through the night.

Well there it is. To make up for the wait I worked a little more than usual. I know the feeling of waiting for an author to update- on several of my own watches, its been a year since a last update and counting.

If you've noticed I've dropped characters such as the miltank, Koi and his father, and the two humans named rather quickly because those characters aren't as important to the story as is Kapok. I normally don't do that with my writing, but because of the extended context that this story makes me write in, many characters in the future will be rather short-lived so that screen time can be focused on those who will affect Veri in the long run- the very, very longrun. :D


	6. The Second Life

Chapter Six- The Second Life

By the time Veri stopped running, it was already dawning on the next day. Even from far away, an animal with even the weakest eyesight could tell that the pup was utterly exhausted. She collapsed to the rich dirt that furnished the forest floor, panting in some of the heaviest breaths Veri felt she had ever taken. As the tiny pup's chest heaved up and down with enormous pants from distancing far more than she could handle on such tiny legs and lungs, Veri felt the sweat that had begun to collect on her coat begin to settle into her skin uncomfortably. She desperately tried to shake what she could off of her vermilion coat, but to no avail besides more exhaustion. She laid her head back in the dirt discouragingly until she began to feel an odd sensation in the flesh of her tiny pads. She worked to lift a foot so that she could clearly see the underside of the paw, and was even more disheartened to find that her pads had become blistered and had already began to bleed.

She rested her foot back into the dirt, not knowing what else she could do this very second for her wounds. Three out of the four pads she felt were damaged, and two of those she was almost certain were losing blood. As she lay there she set her eyes high to the forest canopy, her chin still planted in the dirt. Several pidgey fluttered across her line of view, squawking on about something in a dialect too fast-paced for Veri to decipher. In the distance she heard the agitated calls of nesting hoothoot and noctowl, disturbed from their daily slumber by some unseen ruckus. The sunlight drained through what it could of the deciduous forest leaves and only gathered in clusters on the shady floor. Bushes and moss grew on and around rocks that were randomly placed along the base of the wood. It was then Veri realized an intense, sudden thirst from her flight, but heard no water that might be trickling down toward the distant bay.

When the sun was at the top of the sky, Veri regained self-awareness of where she was and what had happened the past few hours after slipping in and out of extremely light naps throughout the morning. She felt her paws to have stopped bleeding, although still sore, and now the birds were at their highest coarsely sung orchestra. At first their calls had seemed soothing, almost a natural lull for the vulpix pup when she had been stranded on her underbelly below the winged felons of nature. But now it seemed that every single bird within a day's journey in every direction was screaming at the tops of its lungs in a sudden, daily outburst of warnings and threats. Veri had had little experience with birds, having lived on open land all her life, but she figured that they were foolishly competing for food or space or a potential mate. She had such little knowledge of life on her own that the naive vulpine had absolutely no idea that competing for such basic commodities like food and territory were natural aspects of life in the wild. She had never been exposed to such daily struggles from being raised under the humans' care. Kapok had shared briefly what it was like to live with one's own family, but Veri had been so young and new to the world at the time she had absorbed little of it.

She could identify the calls of pidgey and pidgeotto, a few spearow, and countless other cries that she could not identify. Veri set her ears back in displeasure; she had to get away from the deafening noise. Mustering what strength she had accumulated over the past few hours, she struggled to raise herself to her feet and still aching paws before slowly making her way in a random direction. She did not have to travel long before the racket droned to a more tolerable level. It was still agitating, but she could rest more thoroughly now. Much to her fortune, she happened to top near an exceptionally large pile of moss that had bunched thick onto a decaying stump. The padding felt wonderful, and despite massive hungering and thirst pains, Veri fell into a restful sleep.

It was not until dusk then when she woke, reviving her pains as well. When she focused her eyes after a yawn, Veri was shocked and even flinched for a second at the sight of a very young fawn standing dead in front of her, chewing daintily on a heap of fresh flower buds. When it noticed her, the fawn looked petrified at her, ears alert and eyes almost so wide Veri thought they were going to pop out of the creature's head. The staring contest went on for several minutes, and during this time, Veri took note of the white speckles sprinkled over the creature's back. It had large ears, and a long, ballooned face that was adorned with the largest, but most profound eyes she'd ever seen.

Suddenly a long groan was heard a close distance away, and the fawn turned almost instantly to answer the call of its mother. When she came into view, Veri could see she was a larger version of the fawn, except nearly three times its size, no spots, and a set of massive antlers sprouting from the top of its head. The female was slender and shapely and had long, graceful legs that complimented her form quite well. The fawn bounded over to its mother with sheer joy and nuzzled her. When the mother noticed Veri huddled in the corner of the stump, she set her posture to the exact alertness the fawn had been moments before, but did not hesitate nearly as long before she slowly paced over to the pup.

Veri was not as scared as she was curiously nervous, but twitched every few seconds as the female sniffed her over. When the deer had apparently decided that this creature was of little threat to her offspring, she backed away cheerfully and set a warm smile to her muzzle that calmed Veri greatly. After a second the female spoke to the young vulpix in the softest, most feminine voice.

"What's your name little one?" Veri was strangely certain that she heard a giggle.

The mother patiently waited a long moment as she waited for the vulpix to speak.

"I…I'm- My name is V- Veri." The mother nodded in acceptance.

"That's a very pretty name. Its got good meaning too."

"What do you mean?" Veri inquired.

This time the deer did chuckle. "Where I come from, words with your name in them somewhere mean abundant color and sometimes refers to flowers." She paused. "You're not from around here, are you?"

The vulpix shook her head.

"Well, that's alright. Why don't you come with me?"

Without question, the vulpix was obliged to follow the mother and the offspring, which along the way could not stay focused for more than a moment at a time. Every few seconds it seemed the fawn would become distracted by something, whether it was a colorful inhabitant of the local woods, or a garden of wildflowers growing in the patches of sunlight. Veri felt so obliged to come that she had to strain herself in order to keep up with the even pace of the pair. Soon after, the mother led Veri to a section of the woods where the land rose high and steep, but not so formidable that it was not passable. This sudden rise was now made into a litter of larger stones and high grasses that were so frequent they practically made up the side of the slope. Veri struggled to stay at their heels as she bounded from rock to rock, nearly falling off several times. The deer's long legs made them traverse the rise with extreme ease, almost making Veri envious. At the top however, the land evened out and reminded Veri much of the wide lands she was raised on, except with frequent trees and slightly longer grasses.

From where she was standing, Veri could see not quite a hundred, but seemingly that many deer grazing about in the miniature field. What made Veri the most eager to be there though, was a large pond in the center of the field. Drooling, she bounded over to the water and dove in, taking in as much as a gyrados after a vacation in the desert. She swam around for a moment and then got to shore, shaking her coat and tails. Once refreshed, she strangely found that much of her weariness had gone away. Trotting pleasantly over to a shady tree so that she could lie down and tend to her blistering paws, Veri bathed her pads with her tongue and rolled over onto her back to gaze at the passing clouds.

After a short nap, Veri returned to the pond and sat on the shore.

There was not much to do she found, because strangely, none of the deer paid any heed to her presence. Veri looked around the field for the pair that had led her here, but they blended in with the crowd of nearly identical animals foraging in the area. Veri chased a passing butterfree around the pond and then curled up and fell asleep once more under the beaming sun.

The next morning every blade of grass seemed to be painted with intricate drops of dew that sparkled in the rising sun. Kapok had once told a story of the belief that tiny surskit painted the dew on each blade of grass every morning before everyone arose for the day. She had pondered this for a while afterwards, but never really thought much of it besides young fascination. The entire field was brilliantly shining like nothing she had ever seen before. The deer were also awakening to nibble at the wet grass.

Veri rose to her feet and pranced over to the mother and fawn that had greeted her yesterday. When it saw her approaching, it hobbled over on its long, reedy legs and sprang around her with excitement.

"Why do you all eat the grass when it's wet?" Veri curiously asked the grazing doe.

She smiled warmly. "It's sweeter in the morning when the dew collects."

Veri thought this over for a moment and opened her mouth to take a mouthful of grass. After chewing it in consideration, she spit it back onto the turf. Veri then desperately began flexing her jaw and her tongue trying to get out a blade of grass stuck beneath her tongue. When she finally got it out, she plopped back onto her haunches in embarrassment with the fawn was still bouncing around her. The mother gestured the fawn to go off and play, and Veri contently followed behind. Throughout the day the pair chased butterflies, played on the shore of the pond, and frolicked around the deer field. By mid afternoon the fawn was exhausted and plopped beside its mother for a nap. Without anyone taking notice of her, she slunk away and back down the rocky hill.

Veri left the deer, comforted by their hospitality, although she had never gotten any of their names. She was surprised to realize only now that the fawn that had played with her had never spoken a word. It then struck Veri that the young stantler had been a mute. Veri struggled to imagine what it was like to not be able to speak. Its mother was kind and gentle, and she seemed to be an excellent parent, especially with a disabled young. Veri cringed at the thought of the fawn, helpless, caught or trapped, hurt or in danger with no way to call for help.

The sun was already beginning its journey behind the horizon, so Veri thought it best to find an unreserved place to bed down. Especially with all the strange winds that blew from the northeast whenever winter was approaching, it was important that it be somewhat sheltered. A few more minutes' travel caused Veri to stumble past a peculiar burrow.

It was a strange nest; it was wide on two ends and skinnier in the middle, all dug into the side of a pile of packed compost about twice the vulpix's height. Veri sniffed the entrance cautiously but it smelled as if no one had been there for days. Slightly eased, she took another step inside to find that no one was indeed inside. Veri's naiveté chased away any further thought of potential danger away before she curled up on the soft grasses stacked inside.

The young vulpine stirred and peeked open an eye to notice that it was still very dark. She heard owls and crickets that provided lyrics for the steady night wind brushing through the tops of the canopy. The tall trees rose up like enormous pillars that struggled to hold up the sky, although everything was a shadow in the midst of the night.

Veri was just about to lay her head back down when a sudden rustling noise was heard outside of the den. She perked up her ears and got to her feet, alert to whatever was shifting in the undergrowth. For a moment nothing happened, and Veri's breaths became deeper. Suddenly something came lurching at the pup from the shadows beyond the den, equipped with a long, dirty hiss. Veri dodged and sprang out of the hollow.

The vulpix wheeled around and stood alert, but frightened as she anticipated the creature's appearance. It took the attacker a moment to recover and approach her, but when it finally did Veri could see that it was a creature long, purple, and somewhat small, banded with gold scales. Its red eyes screamed some dark anger, and its fangs dripped venom .

The snake lunged at Veri again and she dodged it once more, the gaping jaws of the reptile just brushing past her tails. Veri frantically ran away from the den site, evading rocks and bushes, hoping the snake was clumsy and would run into them. She turned her head while running and to her surprise the snake was still hot on her trail. Veri tried to figure how something without legs could run so fast or even at all. Veri returned her gaze to the front to find that she was just steps away from a fallen tree. The vulpix collided with the tree with a thud and fell to the mossy earth with as massive headache.

Veri painfully moved her head and squinted her blurring vision to catch a glimpse of the snake throwing itself at her and then she felt a sharp pain ripple through her thigh and into the rest of her body. The snake then reared for a second attack but Veri managed to raise her head and send a show of flames at it. The blaze burned the creature on its side and sent it angrily retreating in the direction it had come. Veri fell back down, relieved, but in great pain as the poison coursed through her body and blood dripped from two holes in her left thigh.

She tried to turn to the side and lick the poison-tainted blood trickling down, but the toxins had already begun to take its effect on her upper body. The red life fluid mixed with her soft, rusty fur while Veri fell into a painful slumber under the bright half moon.

Dawn was waking and painted the sky with brilliant pinks and oranges that seemed to surround and glorify the approaching sun. Veri stirred once and heavily opened her eyes and turned once more to her thigh- the blood had clotted and was beginning to flake off. Veri felt unusually dizzy and was extremely warm. Veri licked her paw and some excess saliva dripped down, but it was a dirty green color that made Veri wince. She tried to stand but three of four legs were numb.

For the longest time Veri simply lay there on the forest floor, staring at the trees and plants around her. Suddenly a bird was standing before the vulpix. It wasn't very big; it was quite small, with bright blue plumage covering its fruit-shaped body. Two large feathers from its head and its wings resembled enormous clouds that drifted by the sun on a warm day in summer.

The bird stared at the suffering pup with curious eyes, as if they were calculating something. But just as Veri was begging to take comfort from the bird's presence, it dashed away on its puffy, white wings toward the dawning sky. It returned a moment later with wings full of water. The bird hopped over to the vulpine and raised its left wing, setting it on the vulpix's wound. Within a minute the dried blood was washed away and the bird put its other wing to Veri's mouth. Slowly she drank from the spongy wing, taking great care not to damage the delicate plumage.

Veri's thirst was nearly quenched when the bird flew away in panic from being shooed away by something. As it fluttered angrily away, Veri looked up and saw yet another strange creature towering above her. She squinted to detail the creature, but the poison was blurring her vision worse by the moment. The next moment Veri went blind completely and felt her being picked up by strange forelegs and could hear herself being carried through the brush away from where she had lain. The creature smelled of foliage and wildflowers, along with a faint but soothing aroma of some herb. Moments later, Veri fainted.

This whole place smelled like a garden; Veri blinked twice to be sure of what she was seeing, but before her was apparently the creature that had carried her off earlier. It was quite tall with a long, thick tail and a bright red mushroom on the top of its head. The creature's eyes were sweet and reminded Veri of the mother stantler. Below a leafy neck collar rested two, red and claw like arms, all over a set of thick, meaty legs, Behind her danced six tiny, walking mushrooms.

Veri swung around at her side. Her legs were no longer numb and only a trace of pain remained in her hip. The pair or bite holes had been neatly patched up. The scar as barely visible; either she had been unconscious for several days or this was a healing job of expertise. She set her gaze back at the breloom who had turned around and was trying to calm the bouncing young down.

"What is it Mommy?" one chimed.

"Can we play with her?" another asked.

"Relax children. You'll get to play when our guest gets well. For now go dig up those seeds for your meal."

All of the mushrooms hopped away. The breloom turned back to Veri, who by now was quite puzzled.

"Are all those young ones yours?" Veri piped up.

"They most certainly are. Just hatched 'em last moon. Quite the package of energy but they're all worth the trouble. How about you- are you feeling well? Your wounds from your run in with that ekans were bad. If I had gotten there any later you may have been paralyzed permanently."

Veri glanced at her thigh again. "Thank you, for that. I greatly appreciate it."

"Oh, its no problem at all. I've got quite the practice in nursing, being a plant and all, so why not put it to use?"

"Do all of your children have names?"

"Well, no not yet. I usually name them in the spring, to make sure that they can last the winter. I don't know exactly why its done that way, except that it's the way my parents did it and basically the way its always been done. They'll be ready to go off on their own come next autumn." The mother breloom still had a kind, gentle smile across her beak.

It made Veri briefly think of her own litter someday. It was hard to picture having a bunch of young in such a tiny body. It the struck her to wonder why the mushrooms looked so completely different from their mother. There had to be some kind of change _somewhere_ in life. She just couldn't quite comprehend the idea of an instantaneous change and it only made the idea more confusing when she remembered how Koi had grown over time but had never gotten nearly as large, robust, and grown a horn as his father had been. The thought of her friend reminded the young vulpix of the humans and what she had done to their home. She also thought of the torn look of Kapok as she set her ears as low as her gaze.

"Miss, what's wrong? Something is troubling you." Veri remained silent. "Well, I don't mean to be abrupt but I have to make sure my brood doesn't tear up the entire forest trying to get a bite to eat. I will be here though, whenever you're ready to talk."

The breloom waddled off in the direction the walking mushrooms had gone, leaving Veri all alone. Veri slowly crept into an odd depression. She wasn't sure if or how long she'd stay with the family of fungi, and if she went off on her own she knew that she'd need to toughen up significantly and learn to care for herself full time. Kapok's droning words echoed throughout her head in despair. "You're not even a mature adult yet," He was right. She wasn't ready yet. But the chaos and terror of the fire she had started raged through her yet again and in its own way branded a scar into her memory of the fiery blaze that would haunt her forever.

To her, the fire she could create was a curse; a burden and it had to be harnessed. So well that it could never hurt anyone ever again. She had driven Kapok away from her with this fiery curse straight from the fires of hell. Veri had to get away- she would not put this humble and loving family at risk because of something she couldn't control. Veri suddenly got to her feet and determinedly began to canter away.

Someone stopped her. It was the breloom.

"Whatever it may be, I can tell that it must be a burden far too great than someone so young and innocent should bear."

Veri was shocked by the breloom's words. She too was right. She had been through much in her short year and a half in this life. Changed, she turned around once more and told her the whole story.

When she had finished, the breloom was silent for a moment as she thought.

"Why…don't you, instead of running out of love, use it to protect what you love. It's much better for the mind and does not make you quite as tired. Besides, I'm not sure you would survive the winter alone."

The breloom gave another warm, motherly smile that put the vulpix greatly at ease and for a few short peaceful moments she nuzzled the breloom as if she'd known her forever. The moment was interrupted by a troop of bouncing shroomish chirping behind the two. As the breloom turned around, their embrace broke and she spoke in an affirmative, mother like tone.

"Children, we've got a guest here that's going to be staying with us for quite some time." The miniature mushrooms hopped up and down even higher in excitement. As they began shouting out random questions about the vulpix the breloom once again turned to Veri.

"Excuse me for being so rude, I don't think I've gotten your name yet."

"My name? Oh, yes! My name is Veri."

"Beautiful name you've got there. I'm Fern."

Veri was suddenly swallowed by a swarm of energetic shroomish.

A/N: Sorry once again about the really long wait. Summer will be coming in about a week, so the updates will come hopefully twice or 3x as fast. Many thanks to anyone who has been patient with me and my amazing procrastinating abilities, and anybody whose been sticking with the story, ask nearly most of my free time these past few days has been trying to get this chappy fixed up. So, I'm going to do the unthinkable and set another deadline for myself, either June 21st, or the 25t. I'll try my hardest Thanks again for all my reviewers! You all keep me going! Until next time…


	7. Just Another Winter

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Seven

Just Another Winter

The fog lingered over the hidden knoll, still as thick as a magikarp's lack of wisdom. Veri slowly traveled through, and not a sound anywhere could be heard. Suddenly an enormous, shadowy figure materialized in the fog above her. The black specter slowly took form and seemed to remain once it had taken the shape of an enormous animal with piercing red eyes, still only a silhouette against the slate-gray of the atmosphere. Veri huddled into a ball trying to make herself as small as she could. The ghostly form slowly enveloped the tiny fox as she sent a howl of fear through the air.

Veri quickly arose to a sitting position, full alert and breathing heavily. Her sweat had gotten into her mouth and the salty taste made her wince. She looked around and the six mushrooms were still cuddling in a heap around Fern. She sighed in relief. The crickets were playing their usual symphony, and Veri, for several minutes, just sat on her haunches listening to their melody. Bored, she rose to her feet and ambled over to a short hill that overlooked a thinner part of the forest. The half moon set everything ablaze in a white light. Veri stared at the moon again and imagined herself gliding through the cool night air that rushed through her fur and briefly pondered over exactly what the moon and the stars were.

In the bushes behind her something stirred and disrupted the serenity of the hill. Veri twitched an ear and turned her head, taking a deep breath. The vulpix let down her guard when she saw that one of the shroomish had followed her up the slope. It seemed very uneasy.

"Hello there. I'm sorry if I startled you. Why don't you come and sit over here with me?"

The mushroom was hesitant but made its way to her, plopped down on its bottom, and stared up at her.

"You don't have a name yet, do you? Well, I guess if you keep it a secret, you can be called Kyp."

It seemed to understand, and let go some of its uneasy tension. The pair sat on the overlook until the both of them were fast asleep.

The autumn phased on by and the oddball family began to witness the first signs of winter approaching. The leaves began to change to the colors of the flame that strangely made Veri quite comfortable. Something that puzzled the vulpix however was that the leafy petals around Fern's neck also turned as red as her claws and eventually drifted to the ground, one by one. It didn't seem to bother Fern, but Veri never got around to asking. In a few more short weeks nearly all the leaves in the trees had been shed and Fern's neck was completely bare. Veri also noticed that her fur began to thicken significantly as the season progressed. A few days after Fern's neck became bare, she suddenly fell frenzied and irritable. She would snap at her children, or if Veri was in the way, and when she ordered everyone to begin digging a large hole and storing food, Veri somehow got the courage to ask Fern the purpose.

"Why? Because if we don't have enough food we'll starve and without shelter we'd all freeze. You too, so keep helping."

Expecting this type of response, Veri gave out her reasoning regardless of the fact that she knew the breloom didn't want it.

"Well, I was just curious because where I grew up we had food all winter and storing food is a little new to me,"

"I understand that it's a new thing for you, but you live with us now and that isn't what we do."

The breloom turned away.

Veri wanted to say more, maybe even apologize. Apologize? Why? It wasn't her fault that Fern had grown cranky and impatient, and it was probably just some seasonal thing, like many other things were. Veri had learned by now that in life some things just shouldn't be taken to heart, no matter how inconsiderate. This way, she realized, things went generally a lot smoother and she contradicted herself less. It was only now Veri could actually begin to feel herself maturing.

She realized that many of her personality changes came naturally and for the better, and dealing with Fern strengthened them even further. She even recognized the fact that she wasn't fully mature yet, and knew she still had a lot to learn- she felt mature just for thinking that. In her sleep Veri would ask herself over and over if she truly had the confidence and the maturity to withstand every trial that life could dish out.

The maturity she was so positive she was learning was finally put to the test when Fern suddenly asked Veri to watch the shroomish while she ran an errand.

"Wh-what do you want me to do?" Veri was quite surprised that she would be asked this, especially since Fern's mood change.

"Can't you just keep an eye on them for half a day while I go out? It can't be that hard,"

Veri knew that the way Fern talked to her was rude, but she didn't want to make her even angrier, so she just accepted the fact as part of life. She did hope, on the inside, that Fern's irritability would end soon.

Early one morning, when the air had an extra chill to it, Fern got up and paced away from the nest. Veri speared to be asleep and heard the breloom leave. She was careful not to twitch an ear and when she had disappeared from sight, Veri fell asleep once more.

The shroomish were up early as usual, and Veri had little time to stretch after awakening. They already wanted breakfast, so Veri looked around to see if Fern had left anything for them to eat, Of course not. Veri sighed to her and figured that she had seen this done may time, so it couldn't be too hard. Sometimes they ate seeds, or leaves, they could eat small insects and flower buds. They seemed to have quite a variety in diet, and she continued to glance around at the surrounding woods as the shroomish danced around her, waiting for food. Finally she spotted something that she had no doubt was their favorite. Not too far was a cluster of flowers that was probably the last sprouts for the year and winter was approaching fast. She turned to them and asked them to follow.

"Here you all go, these are the last for the season, so don't hog them and enjoy."

Veri watched them completely devour the patch of what had been about thirty, medium-sized flowers. When they had finished, she got to her feet as they swarmed around her once more.

She wagged her tails. "How would all of you like to play a game? Kyp and err, this one and I will wait until the rest of you have hidden yourselves so that we can't see you. Ready? Go!"

Veri and Kyp closed their eyes as they heard the other five shroomish frantically try and find a spot to conceal themselves. The frenzied chirping noises in the background made Veri laugh to herself as she held her paws over her eyes.

She heard one disturb a small pile of rocks, two dive behind a log, and the rest hide in various placed nearby. Once everything was quiet, she turned around and poked Kyp on the side. Veri ambled around, and saw one of the shroomish with only its face buried in a bed of grass. She tired not to laugh out loud.

"I _wonder _where they all went…" She crouched low and took a pounce at it from behind. It jumped up when she scared it, and looked over, to see that Kyp had found the two that she had heard behind the log. That left only two more…

She managed to surprise the one hiding behind the rocks, but even with everyone searching, they couldn't find the sixth shroomish. Veri called out to it, but no one answered. Veri began to grow worried, the shroomish wasn't in any of the surrounding woods and Veri wasn't sure exactly when Fern would return. That was the last thing she needed, having the breloom erupt because she lost one of her children. After frantically searching more of the outlying woods, the five shroomish still trailing behind her, she heard a soft, panting, noise coming from somewhere that she couldn't see. Veri looked all around and then, up in the tree, perched on a thick limb, was a large, green creature a good deal taller than Fern. She couldn't see it exactly, but to her horror, there it was, the sixth shroomish, clutched in the creature's mouth in an exhausting struggle.

Veri had to figure out a way to get it to come down…she couldn't throw rocks that high- that would just make it run away. She didn't want to burn down half of the forest, either…Veri grew even more desperate as she realized that saving this shroomish and keeping the other five together was going to be quite a task. With no other ideas on hand, she called out to the creature.

"Umm…excuse me, but you can't…have that…" Veri felt absolutely ridiculous. She sounded that way too. Yes, that was a very threatening warning and it would just come down and hand it back to her. It startled Veri when it spoke, for she apparently hadn't expected it to speak, but it did so in a sinister, dim-witted voice that almost sounded like a reprimand.

"What, it this yours? I'm a bit busy right now…"

Veri didn't reply. She was stalling, thinking of a way to get it to come down.

Suddenly she dashed behind all of the other mushrooms and nudged them forward. As she pushed them they began to squeak in uneasiness.

"You can have the entire batch if you come down to get them…No strings attached,"

This seemed too easy. It wasn't stupid. He shook his head in frustration, the long leaf hanging from the top waving as he did so. But then again, _all_ of the shroomish sounded tremendous in meal terms- he wouldn't have to eat for several weeks. But having been raised by those younger than himself, he wasn't the brightest of his species, and leapt down from the tree.

When she saw him comply to her offer she told herself that she would have to be quick in making this a nearly flawless effort. To reassure the grovyle, she stepped back from the pile of fungi. He dropped the one in his mouth, and started to carefully circle the others. Veri waited several moments before she leapt at him, otherwise her flames would have charred the young as well. When his back was facing the outside, she dove and lit the grovyle aflame. He squealed and shook his head as the leaves extending from his wrists, head, and backside ignited, and crying as he fled back up into the canopy.

"That was too easy," She said to herself quietly in utter disgust at how easy that rescue had just been. She had expected a much more challenging fight. Why, even the playful spars with the ponyta had been more exciting.

Veri's thoughts ran back to the sixth shroomish, and she rushed to it to inspect its condition. Much to her relief, it was unharmed, and the others seemed to be fine as well. She let herself fall to the forest floor in utter reprieve, sighing modestly although she wasn't sure what she had to have been relieved of, based on the walking tree's introduction.

After that the offspring surprisingly entertained themselves for quite awhile. During that time Veri lay still on her back, taking occasional deep breaths to enjoy the calm day and using her ears to watch the mushroom mob. She jumped hesitantly to her feet when she heard the chime of Fern's voice approach them. By her expression and tone of voice, Veri gladly suspected that the season of irritability had ended. By the way the mother breloom greeted her children Veri could confirm this notion.

"Children, I've brought you back something that will help you a great deal his winter, and I can imagine that it tastes wonderful,"

Fern set down a small gathering of six, small objects that resembled grainy pebbles. As the mob swarmed around the food, Fern took Veri aside.

"Veri, I just wanted to apologize for the way I have been acting the past couple of weeks. There's no excuse, except that I do know that is a tendency for females of my species at this time of the year. I really hope that you can forgive me…"

Veri had oddly anticipated this apology from Fern. "It's alright. I'm just glad that things are back to normal,"

"Oh, by the way, that reminds me. Come with me,"

Veri and the mushrooms followed her back to the den site.

"Veri, I'm sure that you have probably guessed by now, but here's where we'll be staying for the winter. Why don't we all go inside and see how it fits?"

Everyone crammed inside the tiny doorway, but much to Veri's surprise it was a bit tight, but considerably roomy for everyone being inside at the same time. Fern would have to curl up along the back, with her young in a bunch beside her, with Veri near the door. This worried her a small bit, but she knew that she did have the fur and normal high body temperature that they lacked. It wasn't clammy inside, or too warm for her comfort, and she noticed three small air holes in the sides of the wall. Not five minutes later all six plants were asleep and the first snow of the season had begun to fall.

Veri watched the entrance of the cave for hours as layer after layer of snow piled up on the outside. It was a soft, quiet snowfall, making the scene as peaceful as the nights on the prairie had been. The only thing that disrupted the silence was a rare call of a lone winter spearow or murkrow passing overhead. Over the few hours she sat watching it, she could feel the ground harden significantly beneath her, even with the layer of foliage placed on the floor. After quite a long time Veri lay her head on her outstretched paws and fell asleep.

Several weeks into winter passed by slowly, and Veri found that winter days here trailed on much slower than the winter days on the prairie. She ran her thoughts several times back to Kapok, and many times during the first half of the winter she thought of him. She would wonder what he was doing right that very moment, if he was okay, or if he was even alive. Sometimes these thoughts made Veri rather depressed, and she tried to distract her thoughts by taking the shroomish out for quick games in the snow.

She knew that they could not be out very long; for fear that they would freeze, so she tried to find ways to keep their playtime short but have the daft young fungi get something out of it. While along in the den as the rest of them slept, she thought of some of the useful things that she could teach them. So one day she woke them up and took them outside.

Veri showed them how to huddle together and use their breath for extra warmth, and she helped them learn how to roll around in the snow to dig a hole in order to find food. She emphasized taking frequent breaks, and soon enough they were all finding food when they were hungry, and when none was to be found they ate from what Fern had stored in the walls of the den. Many winter days were like this, and by late winter light could already be seen shining through the thinning walls. By the arrival of spring, the walls were nearly stripped clean of their stored foliage, and just in time to come out of slumber. Fern had been asleep much of the snowy season, but she had awoken a few times to the sound of her children playing outside.

One day during an especially warm spell for the season, Fern took Veri aside, as she sometimes did.

"Veri, I must say, I'm not one to be superstitious but I think that you have a bit of good luck attached to that beautiful brown hide of yours. All of my children lasted the winter, and thanks to what you've shown them, I am confident they will see many, many years."

In return I'd like to show you some of the things that I know as a healer. Over this coming summer I think that what you'll learn could be of great use to you someday; it has assisted me countless times,"

And so it was, over the duration of the summer Fern watched her offspring grow, and displayed nearly everything she knew in a way that Veri could understand. Another long autumn snuck up on the family, and Fern decided that it was time to let her young go.

x x xx x x x x x

Just a bunch of quick A/N's:

There's chapter seven- I didn't really enjoy writing this chapter, and I'm glad that only the first page of chapter eight is with this family of a walking mushroom whom I consider to be quite the soccer-mom, if you know what I mean. The walking mushrooms are annoying, and this is the last chapter where things go pretty boring and slow. Things begin to pick up after this…I promise that they'll get better. ; )

I already have the next four or so chapters written, I'm just re-reading through them to check for last minute errors. You can expect them all within the next five days or so.

Thank you again for all of my wonderful reviews. I _very_ much enjoy your compliments, but I am also very open to constructive criticism, which some of you have so generously provided already, and much to my benefit.

Once again, I apologize for the long wait. If you haven't noticed already, a big part of Veri's character development, which is going to take place over a long period of time, is that she has this somewhat deep inner struggle with how mature and confident she sees herself. That may shape her into a morbid, melancholic young lady as suggested, or…she may find something that puts her at ease…


	8. Darkness

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Eight

Darkness

The next few days brought another change in the winds, and Fern sent her young off with only a small amount of grieving. She had named each one of them, and Veri had requested that the one she had sat with that one evening be named Kyp. All of the other shroomish went their own ways, for they were quite large by now, and Veri left Fern as well, traveling with Kyp. Veri thanked the breloom for all she had done, and they went on their way, walking for just over a day's time.

Soon they came to a place in the forest where the trees steadily began turning to pine and they intermixed with the leafy trees that the pair had grown accustomed to. Not long after that they set foot in a place where the trees thinned out into a clearing. In the clearing however, stood a huge building that looked as if it had been grown from the seed of a tree. It was a regular shape; its walls coming together at hard angles very much unlike the ones Veri had seen at home. A smaller version of this structure stood a distance closer to them towards the tree line, and black smoke poured out of a spout in the top. A great blend of yelling, barking, and unpleasant sounds emitted from inside the enormous box that chilled Veri to the bone. She had never heard such uproar in her life.

This was apparently no threat to Kyp however, because it lunged forward and happily continued skipping in the direction of the noisy building.

"Hey! Kyp, get back here!" Veri's shouting whispers seemed to brush past the naive mushroom. Veri was quickly growing impatient. Things would get worse fast if she did not get the little runt back behind the trees. Carefully, and slowly she slunk out from the brush cover, looking in every direction for a dangerous threat. The loud barking meant that there was most likely a predator here, and probably more, so she crawled from the bushes towards the skipping mushroom.

Veri pounced after she had managed to get close enough behind it, and it squealed loudly as she fell upon it. Sure enough, whatever was inside there came scrambling out, but much to Veri's surprise it was a human who lumbered out, and he looked rather young, with three large dogs trotting behind him. Quickly she glanced over the dogs, and one almost exactly resembled Kapok. She could tell by the foul scents that these creatures emitted, however, that this was not he. The other two had the same appearance as each other, and they were both larger than the other one, with dry, matted, jet-black pelts and piercing red eyes. All three of them growled loyally behind the man.

Veri stood, still half upon Kyp, and stared at the man. He was young, but he looked worn and gruff and carried a long, black stick in his hand. Despite his looks, he was human, and although Kyp had never seen such a creature Veri knew right away that he might be able to help her, for she had not eaten in several days. Veri leapt off of Kyp and eagerly trotted towards him, tails happily wagging with the swaying motion of her hind legs. Veri stopped when he did not open his arms in welcome as nearly every human she had grown up with had. She cocked her head to the side, confused, but closed the distance between them and nuzzled his leg.

The man apparently did not see this as she had hoped. He backed away and pointed his stick at her, but after a moment of consideration he withdrew it, and then pointed it at Kyp. Veri had no idea what was going on, but felt that things were not right and made a dash toward the mushroom. It was too late though, and a loud crack sounded and before Veri knew what had happened, Kyp lay on her side, an olive-colored blood spilling onto the dried grass. In that instant Veri knew that she had to run, and terrified, made a mad break for the trees. But a shrill whistle was heard, and the three barking dogs came running after her, and cut her off before she got to the woods.

They growled threateningly and Veri turned in every direction, looking for a way out. They had cornered her between the man and their foaming fangs. Veri inhaled and burned one of the dogs in the flank, and then leapt for the trees. She did not get far though, for the remaining two dogs followed close and cut her off again. One knocked her onto her side and before she had time to recover, the man was holding her by the skin behind the neck. Veri was too petrified to use her flame. He carried her around to where she had seen the miniature house and literally threw her inside. Her struggles were not enough to fend him off as he squeezed on something over her face that prevented her from opening her mouth, and did not feel what was put around her neck until she tried to dash after him out the door and was pulled back with a harsh choke. Veri whined and scratched at the door for several minutes, and when no one returned she lay down in the dirt. Several hours later a sweet smell of a warm, basted vegetation drifted from inside the man's house and wafted under the shed door. With nothing much else to do, she stretched her paws out and solemnly lay her head upon them.

After that first night Veri's fear turned almost instantly to loneliness and depression. She would fidget with the muzzle, get up and pace around the shed, or just lie on the dirt floor and cry to herself. When her whimpers became too loud, the man would shout from inside his house unpleasant things. Other times he would just come out of his house and go right to the shed, kicking or throwing Veri around to try and get her to keep quiet. After such incidents she would ball up in a corner and lick her bruises, or try and fall asleep to the sounds of yelling and shouting from inside the man's house. She knew that the slightest sound could bring him stomping out of his house to repeat the entire thing again. The one time a day that she did get fed, a girl, probably not too much younger than the man, would bring her a rusty dish of apparently whatever the man's dogs did not want to finish, and half of those times what she brought wasn't even edible.

When Veri wasn't droning off from her condition, she though over this girl that brought her food every day. She had once heard the man mumble to himself, "that damn sister of mine," so Veri assumed that they were siblings. She wondered what happened while they were growing up, whether or not their mother had kept them on milk for longer than they should have been. Veri thought this because she had seen the rapidash nurse their ponyta, and she had observed that when a mother weaned her young too late, they were often overly-dependant on their mothers shortly after that, and became aggressive.

Phoebe was different than the man- she somehow just had less of a cross attitude. Whenever she brought her food, she almost always had a light smile or gave Veri a quick pat on the head, which brightened her spirits often. Phoebe was the first person, and only person, Veri saw each morning, and it gave her a tiny sense of hope to know that waking up would bring a pat on the head and food. But each time she left, Veri knew that it would be an entire cycle of the sun before the only good thing left in her life returned. That was, of course, unless she received a 'visit' from the man.

Weeks passed, and Veri waited solemnly but patiently for her day of freedom. She knew that it had already been autumn when she was taken away, and if moons had already passed, then winter would be steadily approaching. She could already feel signs of it; colder, nippier days often where she could see her breath. Veri was relieved somewhat when she saw a difference in the thickness of her coat, as it did every winter. From life on the vast plains, she knew that this ground would get very cold and hard so she worked during the warmest parts of the days digging a hole in the corner of the shed. She had at one time thought of digging out, but a quick jingle of the chain reminded her of the chances of success.

One evening after the first snowfall of the year had begun; Veri felt something crawling along her back leg. She turned around to see that it was only a rattata, small and purple with whiskers as long as its tail. She had seen something like it back on the plains, but they had had longer hind legs and a tapering tail. Cousins, maybe. It crawled along her leg and around to where she could see it clearly. Not expecting a conversation so soon, she flinched when it spoke to her in a tone almost as fast as the birds outside.

"What are you doing in here?" it chattered.

Veri found it somewhat difficult to speak with the muzzle on. "I'm sorry, I've been here quite awhile, and not by choice."

The rat didn't answer.

"Excuse me again, but do you _live _here?"

"Sure do. Why would I want to live anywhere else?"

Obviously this creature wasn't one of the more sharp-witted creatures roaming the forest. This one seemed to be a loophole in the 'brains over brawn' rule. Veri shook her head and watched as it scurried around the shed, smelling who knows what. She wanted to ask it what exactly it smelled, but quickly dismissed the idea for fear that a tiny question would turn into an entire story simply because the bothersome rodent would not stop talking.

Often, and with nothing much else to do during the increasingly chilly days of early winter, she just lay there, as she always did, and thought, as she always did. Veri thought so much as the days of the impending snowy season dragged on that she began to subconsciously confuse herself between her thoughts and sometimes found her own memories muddled up whenever she tried to replay them for company. Veri did not realize that this was quite precarious for her own mind, and by two-thirds of the way through winter she struggled to remember anything at all.

Spring fell upon the outside world, but all Veri had available to her to announce this seasonal arrival was a softening of the ground and warming of the air. The shed windows were so dirty and clouded that it was almost pointless to even have the window. Veri did manage to however, to get glimpses of the light through a tiny hole that the rattata entered through which shed some light in a tiny splotch on the floor, and of course when Phoebe came to feed her.

Summer days were much like the winter ones, quieter, smelly, dark, and redundant. The purple rat did not much else besides run around looking for food or smells that were plainly not there, although provided at least some company for the increasingly gaunt vulpine. One day, after many years of the same routine each day, the ratatta did not enter the shed. Veri waited patiently, but it never came. She waited patiently for several weeks, as it was in her to do, until summer fell upon the forest. She was awoken early one morning by the sensation of several tiny things running across her legs and in the dirt around her.

She opened her eyes and saw a bunch of tiny ratatta running freely around the shed. She tried to count them, and she could only get a number of eleven, but there seemed to be many more than that. A moment later she found the ratatta coming in from the hole in the corner of the shed.

"Are these, _all _yours?" Veri was shocked that something could have so many offspring.

"Sure are. That's why I've been gone for awhile." It still had its extremely fast accent that Veri still had to strain herself to make out.

As annoyed as Veri was on the surface at the sudden appearance of eleven times the chatterbox of mice, she was happy for it. The tiny mice were scurrying in every direction much to the irritation of the vulpix, but then again they were adorable and Veri complimented the ratatta on what a fine brood she had birthed.

"Where is the father, if it's not too bold to ask,"

The ratatta lowered her ears slightly, looked away for a moment, and then looked back at Veri.

"He was caught by one of the large black beasts that roam around here often. He's been gone for several days,"

"I'm sorry," Veri said disappointedly.

Over the next few months Veri watched the tiny mice grow, and by wintertime they had left on their own. Veri didn't see much of the ratatta after that, and so each day was exactly as it had been before, lonely and aggravating. Even more years of desolation passed by, and her visits from the man became regular, and she watched him grow older, and Phoebe aged too. The man's dogs grew gray hairs on some parts of their bodies, but they still remained agile and fit. And still, Veri waited for her day of freedom.

But all the while Veri suffered from her loss of memories, and over time she became unnaturally morbid, cross, and unforgiving to herself and everyone who saw her. One day the Kapok-dog fell ill and the man shot him. Veri went to investigate during a few minutes while the man had let her roam the yard, and while he had his back turned she mutilated the corpse. Veri's anger and raging self-pity grew and boiled, and she simmered in her own fury, fed by the violence of the man and the darkness of the shed. In time she forgot what she was, and the loving, playful, innocent vulpix faded away…

x x x x x x x x x x

Just a quick author's note, the rating will be going up after about four chapters or so, not that it's a big deal, but just to say that I have said it.

I'll have chapter nine up tomorrow.


	9. Murder in the Cave

Aetas Infinitas

Chap 10

Murder in the Cave

Once, early on in the second year, Veri overheard a conversation being held between the man and a stranger up by the house.

The second man's voice was very deep compared to her master's voice.

"Where the hell is the money Smith? You've owed every bit of that money for nearly nine months. If you don't have it by dusk tomorrow I'll run you out and sell every dust speck you own to pay it back,"

Veri did not know of what they were speaking, but she found it interesting to listen. Her master replied in a slightly intimidated but reassuring voice.

"Relax. Phoebe told me that the mutt I got chained in the shed is one of the rarest anybody's seen of that breed in years and if I can fork over some for one of them special stones, I'm gonna change it and rake in the cash for your goddamn debt. Well, that is one of these years I'm gonna get off'n my rear and sell the thing. It seems stupid though, over a game of cards and all…"

"You bet six thousand in one play! You bastards all make fool's decisions like that; you're all the same."

"Oh don't worry. What that runt'll bring in will be more than enough for you. Phoebe was the one that told me that the thing could even change, and that that would cause its value to nearly double. At least that wench is good for something."

This seemed to calm the man considerably.

"Why the hell is she living with you anyway? She a tart or somethin'?"

"No, my sister is not a tart. Your wife's the tart. Pheb' just happens to need a place to stay, and she never wants to marry, she says. 'Says I wore her out of men," The two men shared a laugh.

"What bout' them boys of yours? And yeah, my wife sleeps around some, but all I need her for is her cookin',"

"Well, my oldest, Richard, he's 13, and the twins are 9 now," Veri knew of whom her master was speaking of now, although what he was saying about them was in the dark. Not that she was overly concerned about it, either. The boys did nothing but prod and taunt her from just out of the reach of her chain where Veri would growl but recoil in an irritated fear back into the corner.

"And their mother? Are you still seeing her?"

Veri's master laughed as though he hadn't been asked that in years.

"Wow, besides the card game it's been a long time since we've caught up, you and I, hasn't it? But no, she left when Richard was 'bout five. I'm not too old to raise three boys. Can't be that hard right? I've made it through half already,"

"Well, not really. When all Susan would give me was a daughter she took off, and now my daughter's a tart too. I'll tell ya Smith; we're all messed up. Say, this is a good share early, but what'll you be next birthday?"

"I'll be pushin' 32. I'd also promised the boys I'd take 'em hunting this summer too. 'Hear the coons and stantler are boomin' this year. Them' red-maned birds should be in full season too pretty soon. Make 'fur some good cookin', they will."

Veri heard the second man get to his feet from the squeaky porch step.

"How bout' this runt you say you got in the shed there? Let's see 'er huh?

"Sure thing Jerry," Veri heard the two approach the door, and she huddled in the corner in wide-eyed fear. "She's a bit sickly, from not eaten' her food and all, but it's nothin' a few good meals'll fix up before sellin' time comes around," The latch was lifted free and the door cracked open. After a moment of the two men's whispers, the door open fully and Veri clearly saw her master, tall, rugged, and dirty, and the man he was with. His deep voice complemented his girth, and his heavy build gave Veri additional fear.

Smith paced to the corner, and Veri bunched together so that all she could see of him was his grubby boots, and tensed as she felt him lift her up from behind the neck.

"Here she is, the shrimp," Veri dangled limply under his firm grasp, averting her eyes so that they did not meet the strange man's. He inspected her closely, bringing his face too near for Veri's comfort and his occasional groans stayed behind deep breaths that smelled of something foul, which Veri later learned to be tobacco and a favorite treat of her master's.

After several minutes of uncontested silence he righted himself and put a hand on his hip.

"Yep all right; she'll bring in a good load in town, especially once she's grown, she will. The way I see it, you could get bunches from her, and if you manage to bag a big one come huntin' season. You'll be out of the hole three times as much."

"Yeah, I 'wuz gonna ask you that earlier and I plum forgot. What is the big game this year Jerry?"

"Ohh, them huntin' officials'r getting' more thick headed every year. They're payin' seven thousand for the heaviest bear ya can bag. Rumors are floatin' 'round that there's one wanderin' around out there that weighs three hundred 'n fifty. How they'd be knowin' that is beyond me. Well, I should be goin'. Say hi to them boys for me and give me a call when you're ready to sell that thing and go huntin'."

"Will do Jerry. I'll see ya later." He dropped Veri on the ground without a further thought and latched the door behind him.

Veri thought about what the two men had said. While she'd only grasped a few concepts from their conversation, she'd heard something about hunting. The whole concept of chasing down prey wasn't entirely new to the vulpix. A hunt was a carefully coordinated execution of teamwork both by man and animal, predator and prey. Teamwork that was only capable where a strong bond was formed. If this man planned on taking Veri with him to go and run some sorry creature down, Veri would have none of it as long as she could help it. There was no bond anywhere between the two that could skillfully hunt along with the guidance of the ancient rule. This made Veri very uneasy. ((O.o)) Veri did not recognize this rule as an actual law however, but rather as an instinct unearthed from her heritage of past generations hunting alongside men.

How dare he even attempt to violate such a law? If this excuse for a human had the ability to defy the archaic decree then he should be labeled as such. She then decided to create a new calling for her master. A 'male possession' would suit her just fine.

Because Veri now regarded her captor as a 'male possession', Veri's fears of him changed. It was not a fear of reverence, nor one to be scared of. Veri now saw him as simply something to avoid as much as possible, and doing as he commanded when he spoke to her. That was all. No respect; he deserved none of course. She was neither malevolent nor fomenting at this stage. It would take several more years of brewing in this new type of fear before that could be reached.

The first major test of this new perspective was the day, later in that same year, when Smith decided to take only one of his dogs and drag Veri along with him into town. He came to the shed and lifted the latch so that the door swung wide open, letting what light was left in the day stream in. He leaned down and unclipped her chain and muzzle, forcibly pushing Veri out the door with his ankle. She thought about bolting for the forest, but a corrective growl from the dog with red eyes persuaded her to sit. If he planned on bringing the dog along to wherever it was he was going, Veri's chances of getting away would be near impossible. Those godforsaken hounds were just like the man's sons; ominous and ever-watching her every move, ready to trouble her at any moment.

As she simply sat with the menacing creature policing her from behind, she watched the man go into a large building quite a distance from where she was and slowly lead out a gray, ragged looking creature that resembled a rapidash. Sure enough, it was, and she wondered briefly why she'd never seen this creature before. It was a mare, tattered and bent from years of probably the same treatment that was so graciously given to Veri. It was a sorry sight- several bones were visible from areas where the skin hung loose, and her fires burnt low and weak, like an old candle burning its last moments. Her coat was not a creamy white either. It had grown to be a sickly gray and baggy, glazed eyes were about the most noticeable thing on her entire body. Her horn was missing, and by the way she limped something was wrong with her right foreleg.

At this point Veri felt some sympathy for the creature, but it did not affect her feelings for the man. She did not hate him more for what he had done to it; she was not capable of such thoughts anymore. All she knew was that this man was a monster that was to be obeyed only to avoid pain, like the black entity that used to haunt her dreams. Smith mounted the half-dead equine and whistled for his dog to follow, which sprang to its feet and snapped at Veri to get moving as well.

They traveled down a dirty trail until the sun had nearly vanished completely over the treetop-filled horizon. The entire time the red-eyed canine would never be more than three steps behind the vulpix, who was expected to keep an even pace with the ankles of the half-dead horse. When they arrived in the town, Veri was amazed at what was before her. Buildings stood, nearly twice as high as the homes her first human family had lived in, and in shapes identical to the man's home. People were everywhere, and as the sun left the sky darkness settled on the area, taking the bustle and chaos with it. Veri was led to an open place in the center of the town where many more men and dogs were standing around, some mounted, others not. But there were more than just dogs here, and while most of them were, a few of the creatures astounded Veri with their display. There was a pair of pink creatures, about twice as tall as Veri, with large ears and long spikes protruding from various parts of its body.

One of these two shouted something at Veri but she did not hear. She was too caught up in the magnificence of another creature to hear anything. This creature was not the largest she had ever seen, but by far the most intimidating the vulpix had ever come across. This one stood nearly three times her height and a thick, muscular body sat on two short legs. Two long arms sported a set of razor-sharp claws on each end. Even more ferocious were its eyes; this being's eyes cried of something formidable and sinister. Veri imagined that they held this aura even when the creature slept. The red, jagged markings split through the white fur, complimenting its eyes, which also were tinged red. Veri was frightened- but a fear both of reverence and of terror. It was indeed a daunting display, but it showed power.

This fiend was not of his own tenure, but apparently of the man sitting atop a mighty rapidash just to his right. Another sign of this ownership was a black strap of some sort was looped around its neck as it stood there. Like his 'pet', this man stood out among all of the others here. He wore something atop his head with a wide rim that shielded his eyes from Veri's view by the way it was pulled down over his face. He was dressed in black from head to toe in tight-fitting garments that were as new to Veri as any other thing in this town. The man stood out because he deserved to stand out, and because of this Veri felt that he was of some great importance. Even the voice of this man exhibited great worth.

"To all you brutes and cowards gathered here," He lifted the rim that had covered his face up to where it rested firmly on his head. His voice had a slight 'twang' that Veri had never heard before. "You all know who I am, so I won't bother giving that address. My only words to you will be that there is indeed a near four hundred beast runnin' around out there, and it's gonna be mine. The minute that gun sounds, its every man for himself."

Many of the men gathered around them grumbled and talked among themselves. Veri overhead two of them behind her talking.

"That damn thug, thinks he's such a hot shot. He ain't far from a yellow-bellied feebas. Folks 'round here call 'im Blackjack Joe. He thinks he's all that, with all 'im trophies and whatnot. Rumor's got him sayin' that back home he's got an entire museum filled with huge, prized kills, stuffed all real lookin'. Psh, I don't believe one cent of it. 'Think it's all just a bunch of hogwash."

Veri didn't hear the other man's answer, and she couldn't understand much of what the first man had said either. She longed to run alongside the hellish-looking creature, hunting whatever crossed their path. But she did not know the true temperament of the creature. She did not know of its real power and its zeal for fresh blood. For Veri had undeniably never seen a creature such as this ever before, and in fact no one in these lands had ever seen such a thing. Unbeknownst to Veri, as much was, this creature came from the untamed wildlands of the warm north, where the bloodlust ran extra-high if you were not under the protection of your own kind by large numbers. Of all this Veri was oblivious, and it was because of this lack she was not aware of any dangers that she could not handle from it. Those claws would prove deadly, she would find out.

Almost right after the man had made his address, another man, round and plump, came hobbling out of a building behind the crowd. He said something too fast for Veri to catch, and held something in his hand high in the air. He said three words very slowly, flinched his hand, and a loud sound echoed through the air with a deafening crack. Everyone began to run to the edge of town in a mad outburst of commotion. Veri was all alone now, and heard the harsh voice of Smith calling from far away. The instant she heard him she sprang to her feet and galloped as fast as her legs could carry her to him. Veri expected a beating, but he hesitated and instead clocked her upside the head several times with his long stick from atop the rapidash. He shouted something and the horse took off in the direction that the others had gone off in, Veri being pursued at the heels by the dog as she had before.

The forest was dark, not just from the night but of something else that Veri could not pinpoint. After only a few minutes Smith stopped and dismounted, tying the strap of the reins to a tree. He slapped his thigh for the two to follow, and they continued farther into the murky forest. The forest now, at this time of day, reminded Veri of the night she had lain alone in the unoccupied den. Trees standing enormous in the shadows; strange sounds silent except the rustling of the wind high above; yes this night resembled that night well. Occasionally as they walked they heard the distant call of another creature with their human, stomping through the forest to find what they were all looking for; the giant bear that was claimed to have been spotted roaming this side of the river.

The female vulpix was not aware of it, but several hours of wandering in the darkness eventually made Smith grow angry and impatient. Veri still did not know what they were doing here out in this woods but the dog with red eyes seemed to know. It had been sniffing the ground much of the past few minutes and was now going wild at something new it had scented. Its master seemed to take notice of this and waved his arms in a circular direction in front of him. At this gesture the dog took off into the woods in the direction of the smell. When Veri did not move, for she was puzzled, Smith kicked her with his ankle, and then did she move. Veri ran, running as she hadn't since she ran from the flames from the brushfire. He had wanted her to run, and so she did, in order to avoid pain, as her rule clearly stated.

She could see the dog in the brush ahead of her, gaining on its heels not at a rapid pace, but a steady one. Suddenly it made a sharp left turn in its path, which was too quick for Veri to notice and then turn as quickly on her short legs. She continued going forward, head turned looking at the dog fading into the brush, and hearing Smith approaching behind her. A second later Veri felt herself colliding with something. It was not hard, but gave a stun from which Veri recovered quickly and sat upright to stare at what she had just rammed into. It was large and round, but it was not a rock; its surface was soft and plushy. Then Veri saw that it moved. Not in a stir, but very lightly it moved up and down, as if it was breathing. A low growl came from deep inside the strange object, and then it did stir. It jerked around and groggily stretched its limbs. Veri was now cowering under its enormous mass. A large, golden ring ran around its underbelly, which wavered as the creature flexed its muscles. After a moment it twitched its nose and looked down at the tiny fox trembling at its feet. It let out a growl that became an all out roar. Smith must have heard the growl and was now behind Veri, pointing his stick at it. The dog had caught up too, and was crouched low, growling menacingly and foam bubbling slightly from its lips. The whole situation was hostile, and for a long minute no one moved. The bear shifted its eyes back and forth at Smith and the dog. It had already decided that Veri was of no threat. Suddenly Smith made a low clicking noise and his dog attacked. It lunged at the bear with a flying leap, but was knocked away with a blow from its huge forepaws. Then Smith took a shot at the bear, which hit it in the shoulder, and the dog leapt at it again, this time getting a hold of the back of the neck while the bear was still in shock from the shot. Back and forth they swung, the dog keeping its grip tight as the bear lunged and flailed in an effort to loosen its hold. In its flailing it knocked Smith down and broke his arm; he had been backing away from the fight when the bear swayed far to the left and got him. Veri had gotten out of the way and was hiding in a bush, listening to the shouts of Smith to do something that Veri did not know to do. Behind from where the bear had emerged was a small opening in a hill, large enough so that its massive bulk blocked the entrance. Veri ran inside to get away as the flailing of the two got nearer to the bush.

This cave smelled strongly of bear, and the sudden change of air made Veri's nose twinge. The cave was not far back, only two or three of her body lengths, but in the back she saw three tiny mounds of something wriggling in a bundle. Growls and shouts could be heard just outside, and so it was quite deafening. Veri looked back at the battle outside in fear and again fled for the back of the den. She landed on the ball of fuzz already huddled in the back. She did not hurt them, for she weighed a quarter less than she should have been, but they did squeal a tiny bit when she landed. When her eyes adjusted Veri could see that they were very young and did not have much fur. Their eyes were large and open, and they stared back at Veri with the same youthful fascination that she had had once. They were frightened, but not in any extremes. Apparently they could not hear the commotion just outside and Veri figured that they had not gotten the gift of hearing yet in their life. The vibrations from the cave floor were what made them relatively uneasy. For a short moment Veri marveled at their adorability.

This marveling was cut short though, when Veri felt someone approaching her from behind. She twitched an ear and then turned to look. It was the devilish creature from before. In the night all Veri could see was its ominous eyes staring back at her. It released a low growl that mixed with a long hiss. Finally it lashed out with its claws at her. It caught Veri partially by surprise and when she saw that it had left a slash on her muzzle, she realized that its intentions were to not only kill prey, but its allies as well. It knocked Veri to the side with the back of the other forepaw and sent her sailing against the other wall of the den. From there Veri watched as it tore through the three offspring, pulling its claws in and out over and over while their blood splattered everywhere. Veri was drenched in their flesh. Before the last one of them had died it le out a tiny call that apparently reached its mother who was still battling outside. She heard the cry and lumbered into the cave mouth, the dog still slinging to the back of her neck. When she saw the murderer her eyes narrowed and she reached a forepaw to slash out at it.

Veri backed against the wall as far as she could. The bloodthirsty killer was too fast for the bulky mother. It too, lunged out at the mother, but unlike her, he did not miss and sent both pairs of his claws driving into her neck. She recoiled back and gripped he throat in a long gasp before falling sideways. The mother bear flopped every which way in her last moments, and by now the dog had let go of her neck and ran off into the woods. The fiendish creature stormed out of den and stood next to the now still mother. Veri could hear Smith calling out but no one responded or heeded his calls. She was too frightened to move. Suddenly hoof beats could be heard outside the den. The creature with the deadly claws walked over to the rapidash as its rider dismounted. At this point all Veri could see from the low roof of the cave entrance was the legs of both man and horse and the whole of the killer. It received a pat on the head as the man who had gotten off the horse knelt over the side of the enormous kill. Veri peered out some more, and by the sound of the infuriated calls of Smith she got the courage to creep out. As she rounded the side of the small battlefield, she knew that the killer saw her, but he did not move at all. He just stood there, still as stone. When she got to Smith he had used a low branch to pull himself to his feet. He grumbled as he watched the man in black inspect his kill. Smith grabbed his stick from the trampled dirt and poked Veri with it in order to make her follow him. As Veri walked slowly away, her muzzle still in pain, she kept her eyes on that of the killer and mulled over its adept abilities.

Nearly the moment they got back to the man's house Veri was out back into the shed, treated with an extra-special thrashing for doing nothing to assist the man's dog in the kill. Veri still did not know that that was what she was supposed to have been doing, and so she took her punishment with the prospect that she had just done something that countered his will, and that was as general as she made it. She did not want to know what she did or what she could have done differently. Under these new self-proclaimed rules those things did not matter.

And so that was the extent of Veri's freedom for many more years. One day when Smith came to 'punish' her many years later, she noticed that his mouth had grown a bit of pale fur; much more fur than he'd kept there before, which had been darker. The boys also changed, and soon after their tormenting visits became less and less frequent they left and she no longer heard their playful shouts outside. About this time it took Phoebe considerably longer to reach the shed every morning, and Veri's food became more and more pathetic. But most of all, Veri changed in the whole. Her simple fear of the master, and his title of 'male possession' withered away as Veri's brooding now became so great that she indeed hated anything and everything that crossed her thoughts. It was not all dark though, for eventually it came in Veri the idea that she could do something about all of this…

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A/N: Wow that was a long chapter. I had originally had a chapter right after the previous one here, and this turned out to be an add-in of several segments that I typed at random times. As was pointed out, things did seem to go by a bit fast at the end of last chapter, and I had had some problems with the mini-plots for chapter eleven, so this kind of moved things along I suppose.

Real quick I just wanted to apologize for any grammar errors in this chapter. No excuses for me.

A note on Veri: Now and in the next few chapters you may get the feeling that Veri's feelings of morbidity are described as flowing to extremes and then having a recovery too quick to make much realistic sense. I did this actually on accident, and then on purpose, as its got some importance later along the way. Her acquired dark disposition doesn't go away completely though, as you'll see in the future that it pops up every now and then.

Please let me know how this helps things, as after Veri gets herself out of this seemingly endless predicament there's another little story arc of about two and a half chapters and then my favorite part so far takes off. I don't want to give it away too much, but Veri gets her first encounter with the opportunity to make little ones, and a pirate ship. :D

((I've given A LOT away but oh well))


	10. Savagery

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 10

Savagery

For the longest time she just sat there, watching him eat, with all the envy and desire bottled in her simmering over the top, threatening to lash out and take some for herself. She wasn't a naturally spiteful creature, but thirty-seven years had done this to her; thirty-seven years of repeated abuse, lightless isolation, and clawing hunger had reshaped the once tender and extroverted young vixen into a mad dog who saw no reason for mercy. For that long she had watched that man age, and now he was as agedly strange as she had ever seen a human. His sons were long gone, they had twenty-eight years ago, and either of them had never shown any compassion in the time that they had lived here. Why he had let her in the house solely to watch him eat was beyond her.

Sometimes upon Phoebe passing by the shed she thought that perhaps that even the angels had not enough empathy to try and retame the thing that had been so beautiful from the savage and relentless canine. Phoebe imagined that the little vulpix was too blinded by her intense desire to stay alive to rekindle the sweet, intuitive bundle of joy that she had once been long ago on her own. She had tried several times by herself to approach the young vulpine, but never to any avail. Phoebe had hoped that someday something would revive the little vulpix, if there were any out there to attempt it.

Veri's anger still raged in the top of her head as it always did, the muzzle still rubbing against the skin where all of the hair had fallen off, making her even more agitated. He licked his lips and took another large bite from the thick leg of meat pulled off the tauros just the day before. Veri remembered hearing the moan of the beast as it fell to the ground from inside the shed. She remembered laughing to herself, rejoicing that the animal had died by the same bloody methods that she had scarcely missed that would have ended hers as well. But now, as she watched him eat, she held in a growl. Veri knew that if she showed even the slightest remark of retaliation, the consequences would be dire. So in her futile state she lay there, with nothing to do but watch, and stare at the enormous dish of fresh meat, dripping in some flavored liquid that made the smell even more intoxicating. The chain rustled as she shifted positions and he only moved his eyes to look at her while he continued eating.

In her anger she also envied the master's dogs, all kept neat and allowed to sleep inside the house on something soft and eat regular meals of things other than the previous day's scraps. The master's dogs- proud, brave, elegant. They were breeding at its finest and she envied them. She envied them all with a deep passion. That very moment, watching her master eat at that table, compelled her to pick them all off, one by one until they were all gone, and she could be free. She could barely remember the feeling of grass beneath her feet and the smell of open air- the feeling of freedom. The memories of her life before this had all but faded away into the attic of her memories. No one seemed out there to want to liberate her from this hellish prison, so Veri decided to do it on her own. Nearly forty winters had rendered her savage, one long snow after another.

Veri longed to have her smooth, beautiful rusty coat, and she longed to have a swift breeze rush through her fur and run down her graceful tails and into the grass below. She did not remember these feelings exactly, but they were sensations that seemed like recalling a past life; faint sensations that seemed like a vaguely familiar memory.

From that moment on, she began plotting her revenge. From the time when he led her by the collar back to the shed, from the entire night she lay awake under the first full moon of the summer, Veri held a sinister smirk to he muzzle, and scheming every second of it.

By dawn she had the entire thing figured out, and would tell no one, not even the ratatta of her plans. She knew that sweet, sweet Phoebe was of no threat, and if Veri had been in her right mind she would have been appalled at the way she was thinking that very moment, so hostile end evil with a dark aura that any around her could sense. Phoebe had never shown any antagonistic activity before, but she was in the way; she was the way, out. Veri knew that in a matter of minutes the young woman would be arriving at the shed door, and that would be when she made her move. In killing each and every person on the property she would have to be swift and make her moves strategically, which had already been carefully planned.

As the time neared, Veri began to slowly working the muzzle off of her face. Her attacks would be useless without her teeth, and more importantly, her fire. The two in combination would be a flawless match, and that was just what she needed to make this a swift and efficient kill. She worked the hard leather at her face, first pushing on the head strap with her forepaws and then flexing her jaws to loosen the tension on the top muzzle strap. After several minutes of working the leather Veri pushed up on the head strap for a final time and at last the muzzle gave way, falling to the floor. She wondered why she had not done this years ago, probably too hungry or scared to make a budge. If Veri had been able to think clearly at that moment, not only would she have been horrified at what she had become, she would have realized that for all those years her environment had slowly clouded and darkened her person. It ate away each day at what she once was. But Veri was too full of her own morbidity and was not able to comprehend these things. Veri thought that she had convinced herself that fear was for the weak, and her actions following in the next few minutes would prove just that.

Not a moment after the muzzle dropped to the floor Veri heard footsteps approaching the shed. Now was the time for action. Veri quietly stepped up to the side of the wall where the door opened, muscles ready to pounce. Every day for the past few weeks she had counted the steps it took the young woman to approach the door from where she exited the house. Veri recounted this number and this time it was not a single stride off- eighteen and a half steps exactly from the house to the shed and one for every two years she had been in this nightmare. Veri was clearly a nightmare spawned from a nightmare and she plainly showed it.

The second Phoebe opened the door Veri pounced upon the woman, sending her toppling backwards and spilling the food in the dish she was carrying all over the ground. Veri dug her claws into Phoebe's chest, and growled before sinking her needlepoint teeth into her neck and pulling back, tearing her throat right out. Blood splattered all over the vulpix's face and paws. Phoebe died with a look of complete terror on her face and had perished in mid scream that had died away in a choking last breath. Veri knew that they had heard the scream and would be coming out in a matter of moments to see what was going on and they would find her, and she knew what would happen. But she would get to them first. Veri ran around to the side of the house where she knew they would come out and hid behind a garbage can placed next to the door.

Loud, rumbling footsteps came from inside the house, followed by claws scratching the hard floor, desperately trying to follow their master outside. The squeaky door swung open, and Veri made her move. Just like she had planned, the master had his gun, and was looking around for what had caused the scream. When he looked Veri's way, she pounced before he had a chance to raise his gun and tore at his throat as well. He strangely didn't go down as quickly as Phoebe had, but he fell off the hard steps and rested onto the ground clutching his throat with one hand and the gun in the other.

All this time the dogs were running around the yard, barking at nothing, and Veri thought she had killed him right away, so she leapt for the dogs. While trying to get at one's throat, she felt a gunshot whiz by her ear and realized that he was not dead and firing upon her. He shot at her again and she dodged by rearing on her hind legs and dodged another by leaping into the air. When she went for one of the dog's throat's the master fired another shot upon her but she ducked just barely out of the way and it hit the dog in the side of the neck where she would have bitten it not a moment later. The dog cried out and yelped before falling to the ground.

Veri ran back to her master and ran around the side for a better strike and pounced him, savagely digging her jaws into his tender throat flesh and tearing back and forth. This time he screamed his last as she bit down a final time and sent a stream of flames into the exposed flesh, charring every fiber of muscle. Once he was dead Veri leapt for the other dog and gnawed at its leg until it fell to the ground so that she could burn its face. She then clamped down on its ears and tore them off, burning its entire body with a rage that now exploded like a volcano kept dormant for thousands of years to release its fury on the innocent victims that invaded its slopes. Veri now stood over the lifeless mightyena in a wide stance, a predator standing proudly over her prey. She was now free- Veri had liberated herself after so long. She turned her body around and gazed at the yard that was littered with the bodies of the four that had held her captive for a thick chunk of her life.

Veri galloped around to the side of the house where the shed was and found Phoebe's body still lying there. For a reason beyond Veri's understanding, she sat down on her haunches and stared at the body. Most of the blood had stopped flowing out and as she ran her gaze around the surrounding area she saw that where the bowl had spilled lie three hunks of fresh, juicy meat. For the first time in nearly forty years she lowered her ears in shame, but she hadn't the slightest idea why because she was so tainted with the foreign rage.

Without another thought she bolted away from the house and into the woods. Veri was fleeing again. From what? Herself? Hadn't she done this somewhere before for the exact same reason? It was difficult to remember but the thought kept flooding back to her each time she fought to drive it away. She was confused, and began to feel fear. The very same fear she had been so sure that she had driven away because it had meant that she was weak. Was she really weak? Fear had kept her alive all those years bottled up in that dark shed but was now causing her to run away. Veri ran all the way to the drop off and came to a slow trot so that she could stop and sit on the very edge. Here a strong wind swept past her perch and- this was the wind, the wind she dreamt about all those years without knowing it. Veri closed her eyes and threw her head to the sky and let out a howl.

She sang a long, sad melody, one that let all know for all within a day's journey in every direction know every single second of pain she experienced for years. The tune sang and then died down and Veri opened her eyes and with tears in her eyes she got to her feet and took a step off of the drop off. She put another paw into the air. Another gust of wind wavered her stance and threatened to send her toppling into the chasm. Veri felt the strongest urge to jump and end it all. What good was anything if she couldn't remember all that she had been through and what she had been? What good was she if she had no memory of the ones who had loved her and had shaped her into what she had been? At that moment Veri wished that she could just grow wings and fly away from all of it. Her muscles tensed to jump but a voice behind her forced her to halt. She opened her eyes and looked around.

Another wind suddenly sent her toppling off the edge, only to be caught on the scruff of the neck by the creature that had called out to her. It set her back on safe ground and when she shook her head to get the dust out of her eyes she saw the strange creature. For a moment she was intimidated, having never seen such a ghostly white on any animal ever before. It was twice as high as Veri, with a short snout, long, slender legs and ears, and the strangest bright pink eyes. The thing that captivated her attention the most was the gold rings that circled various parts of its body. It was strange but beautiful.

"Why were you going to jump little one?"

Veri said nothing.

"Have you done something you regret?"

How did he know about her previous actions? Now Veri was suspiciously curious and she decided to slowly pry into his intentions, although it didn't go very well.

"How do you know that that was my reason for jumping? Answer me or I'll damn you to hell," He recoiled a bit from her answer.

During the creature's brief pause, Veri got a small grip on herself. "Well, there are few other reasons that I can think of for one to want to end their own life."

"I…I've just done some things that just don't feel right. I figure that if I can't remember anything about myself, than what good am I anymore?

He seemed to know the answer right away.

"Come with me then. I think I may be able to help you."

And so Veri followed the strange, white creature deep into the pine forest, away from the hunting trail and onto an unmarked path where the pine needles fell to the floor and pricked at Veri's feet because it had been years since she had been in the forest and had made her feet tender. They walked for a long time, and he would occasionally ask her questions about things, things which Veri hadn't the slightest idea about, or at least what she couldn't remember.

Finally she spoke, but her tone still signaled that her patience was thin.

"Okay, this has been bothering me. What in the forest are you? And why are you acting all wise?"

Her sudden question apparently surprised him.

"Well, man calls me umbreon, but I'm different than my brothers and sisters. Where they are black I'm white. It's something that just came with me when I was born. They also have red eyes whereas mine are pink and I don't see quite as well as they do."

Veri felt a little ashamed all of a sudden for asking this question, and she wondered why he was different from his siblings. Yet another mystery Veri would have to figure out someday. She tried to decide to just let things take its course, but her anger was boiling up again for no apparent reason. It proved an extremely difficult task to not lash out at the white freak that was leading her nowhere and was acting as if he knew everything. Her muscles tensed as she held it back, but her unsolicited rage constrained her to leap forward at him. She was just seconds from tearing him apart when, without even flinching, he let out a shrill whistle and Veri stopped frozen in mid-air. She looked around, and eventually spied a creature very much like the white freak, but instead a light lilac pelt with elongated ears, a red stone in between its eyes, and a long tail that forked into two short ends.

Before Veri had a chance to say anything the white freak spoke.

"This is my sister. I have an almost certain feeling that she can be of great assistance to us."

Veri was puzzled and she narrowed her eyes in a low growl that resonated from the back of her throat.

"Helping us do what?"

"Trying to return back these memories that you say you have lost. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Veri sighed as she still hung limply in the air. "I suppose so. At this point I'm not really sure what to do."

The white freak put on a promising smile. "That's why we're here."

Without setting her down first, the two strangers began speaking in some tongue that Veri couldn't understand. After a few minutes when they had finished the purple one gently let her down and gestured for her to follow. As she continued to follow the pair through the forest, she noted that it was already a decent amount of time since the sun had been at the top of the sky, and she knew that it would be setting in a matter of hours.

" I don't mean to interrupt, but," She wasn't even sure what she was interrupting. "It's getting late, and I'm getting tired a bit early, with all that I've been through today."

The purple one turned her head around while still walking. "We are almost there. You can rest 'till your little heart's content once we arrive."

She seemed like a sweet and kind creature, like her brother. Not much thought passed through her head in the time it took to follow the pair through the woods. When they apparently got to where they were going Veri had expected their home to be a little…different.

XxXxXxXxXxX

A/N: That's it for chapter ten. w00t! Where has everybody gone?


	11. Revival

A/N: Just a quick note, I went over the last chapter again, and the conversation with umbreon did sound a bit like narration, so I edited it some.

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Eleven

Revival

This 'place' they spoke of was nothing more than a den dug into a thicket with a tiny stream trickling by. And the stream was small- her paw was wider than the little trough it ran in. The den was in a large bush covered in fluffy, green leaves and on the top were sprinkled tiny white and red flowers. Veri was a bit taken aback by their home overall- she had expected such an egotistical creature to have somewhat of a more sophisticated dwelling, although when she thought about what the alternative might have been, she went blank.

"We're here," The white freak said in a complimentary voice. "This is our home." He paced over alongside the stream and sat down.

"Why don't you go inside the den and rest? I'm sure my young won't mind," the female said.

Without question Veri stepped inside the den, and sure enough, she saw three little balls of fluff staring at her with large, auburn eyes. They mewed softly as she curled up next to them. As she tried to fall asleep she thought about how unusual it was for a brother and a sister to mate and have young of their own. But then, she supposed, that if their numbers were very low then the only way to reproduce would be to mate with a sibling.

The warmth of their bodies and the fluff of the fur put Veri to sleep quickly. It was night when she woke up and the three inside the den were still sleeping. She found the white and purple freaks sitting just outside neatly under a full moon. The white one's yellow rings had a slight glow to them.

"Good to see that you are feeling well again. Come over and sit with us." He said in his usual tone. Veri did so and looked up at them in a youthful curiosity that she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Why don't you talk with us for awhile? Maybe we can jog a bit of your memory." The female piped in.

Veri sighed in despair. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I have nothing to remember. Most of my life up to this point has been lonely and hostile." She was astounded at her sudden awareness of what she was; this lavender female seemed to have something almost arcane to her aura that allowed Veri to take a small look at what she had grown to be.

"Well what has happened to you that made you forget?"

"For…for a seemingly endless number of winters a man kept me locked in a dark room..." Veri sighed and looked solemnly to the ground, changing her response. "The maltreatment by a human…is what I suppose made me so," She pawed at the bare spot on her nose.

"How old are you miss?

Veri hesitated before giving her answer. She hadn't thought about it much at all. How old exactly was she? Well, whatever the number, she knew that the vast majority of it was spent with that man.

"I…I'm not exactly sure. Well, I counted my winters with that man, and that was about thirty-seven. And before that I…" She paused again. What _was _before that? Veri strained to remember and her expression showed it. The female saw this and stopped her.

"Don't worry, we'll get it eventually, and just relax. Now tell me, can you remember what you were doing before you were taken captive?"

Veri paused again before answering, and tried to remember. She thought in reverse, gradually working her way backwards through the years, hoping to recall what exactly she had been doing that first day. When she could recall nothing but images of the man, she slumped down onto her stomach and hung her ears.

Veri was surprised at how patient the female was being. Veri was surprised at how patient _she _was being. For as far back as she could remember at this moment, she had never had any patience with anyone. This was something new and strange that she could not explain.

"Now, dear. Can you remember your age again?" The female was certainly set on not revealing her purposes.

"Before I was taken, I, I, remember feeling alone for a time, but not more than a moon. After, or, before that, I was with a family that-"

"Your family?"

"No, no. One that I found, or rather, found me. I don't remember what they looked like or much anything else about them."

"And before that?" The female asked her politely.

Veri sat up from her slumping position. "Err…I'm not exactly sure."

"Was the family nice to you?"

"Oh yes, they were very kind and one of them healed me."

The female smiled in satisfaction. "What would you need to be healed from?"

"I was…attacked, by, something."

"Why were you alone?"

"Because, I did something horrible."

The female seemed to understand. "My brother tells me you did something you regret very recently. Is this part of what you just spoke of?"

Veri turned away. "No, its not. That was because I was made almost livid after all those years in the dark, and so I unwillingly took more lives than necessary. It's my fears of what happened years ago that I can't remember before. I just wish that I knew how to wring this anger out of me. It's not natural for me, I know that. I…I just feel the strangest things now; like, I can actually see all of this as opposed to before when I was not able to see… Just talking to you has helped me at least realize that I was not always this way. I see now that what that man did to me made me so angry and blinded me from everything that was important to me before it." Veri was panting heavily and had begun to sweat with wide, desperate eyes.

She smiled with an uncanny grin of satisfaction. "I see. Well, that's enough for one night I suppose. Why don't you come back and sleep in the den." She rose to her feet and curled up with her young. Veri noticed that all this time the white freak hadn't said a word and was still sitting quietly, watching her. Veri trotted up to him and sat down as they both stared up at the beautiful full moon. After a few minutes of not thinking about much anything, her frustrations began to fade away. When she felt a great deal better then she had earlier, she tried to strike up a conversation with the umbreon. The two talked without looking at each other, both just staring at the moon.

"So, umm, do you have a name? You never gave it to me."

"Yes, I do. All of us do. It's just not customary to share it with strangers. Just an old ritualistic thing anomalat relatives do. We don't want to lure in trouble."

"Pardon me, but, anomalat?"

"Yes, my sisters kits in there, they are the anomalat. Well, at least that's what we call them anyway. Man calls 'em eevee or something strange like that. That's one of the reasons that we don't give out names right away because if a stranger is in relation to a human, well, there's disaster spelled out."

"Oh, before I forget, my name is Veri. Are those your children?"

"Oh, no. Not in the least. Those guys are actually my niece and nephews. See, when Elsola birthed those three, her mate died of some mysterious illness so she sent a friend out to find me, and I've been helping her raise them."

"Oh I see. But why don't they look like their mother?"

He smiled and closed his eyes with a laugh. "Heh, it's funny you should ask. The reason is what I mentioned before, the anomalat. All creatures of the species are born looking like that, and different things cause them to change. None that I know of or perhaps none will ever know exactly what causes the different changes. All I know is that I started the same way, and because I loved my mother so much, I just randomly changed into this. Not too long after we left the nest my sister found and loved her mate so much, she changed into what she is now. The only difference was that she did so during sunlight hours, and myself during moonlight hours."

Veri wondered in the back of her mind if there were any other possibilities that the anomalat could turn in to, so she asked.

"I know of one other, but I'm not sure of how many more there are. There could be hundreds, although I doubt it. My mother's brother, Uncle Fons, was the one of strangest things I've ever seen. He was a bright blue with all kinds of fins and gills and stuff, like he was some fish or something. Grumpy old man, the heavens knows where he's at now, it's been so many moons."

Veri was silent for a moment, pondering all that she had just learned. She became strangely curious in wondering if she, too would ever change someday.

"So what ilk are you of?" The white umbreon asked.

These creatures sure had many strange words.

"Pardon me again but-"

"Heh, sorry about that again. I forgot you're not from around here. An ilk is a group of creatures that have specific abilities, which they, and only certain others can use. For instance, my Uncle Fons could shoot water farther than you could see but no matter how hard I tried I could never do it. Elsola, she can do incredible things with her thoughts. I just cant do that. Anomalats believe that all creatures have some type of ilk."

"What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I haven't quite found out myself yet. I have discovered that strangely enough, I can see in the dark much better than my sister, and at night these golden rings around me glow. Something else that's strange is that I have this odd but awesome ability to disappear for a few moments and reappear somewhere else. I've done a lot of thinking on it lately and I think that it's something exclusive to my ilk."

Veri was fascinated at all this new and intriguing information that she was taking in. After thinking on it some more, she shook her head out of her zoning state.

"So what type of ilk are you?"

Veri hesitated for a moment but showed him a tiny burst of flames that dissipated with a passing wind. "I think that is my special ability. I've only met a few who can do the same,"

His eyes became wide, but not with fear.

"You're one of the Pyre…" He got up abruptly. "Come with me, quickly."

Without asking she found herself following him swiftly through the forest. As they ran he addressed her.

"By the way, the name's Lunan."

Within a few minutes they stopped at a large stone cave. Grouped around the entrance were many anomalat, each one held an expression of worry. As she followed him quickly inside, they stared at her as if she were some alien. When they got inside, Veri was astonished at what she saw. In the center of the cave, lying on a bed of grasses, lie a large, fluffy creature of colors similar to that on Veri's tail and the rings around Lunan's body. It had long ears and was panting heavily.

There were also several anomalat sitting around it, and Lunan joined them, gesturing for Veri to sit as well.

"Veri, this is Ignitio. He's a Pyre like you. I didn't mention him before because at the time I though that he was the only one of his kind, like a one-time alteration. But now I realize that he is another of the anomalat changes. All of us have tried but we don't know how." All of the anomalat sitting around him gasped. "He is suffering Veri. We need you to heal him."

Veri's eyes became wide in fear and she slightly backed away. "Lunan I can't, I mean, I don't know how to- I don't know anything about healing!"

"Veri, you must! He'll die soon if something is not done!"

"But-" She looked around her as all of the anomalat stared with some foreign hopefulness. "I'll try," she said, disheartened. What if nothing could be done? It would be her fault and something else to burden her for the rest of her life. But her reclaimed kindness pushed her to strain and remember what the family she had stayed with had taught her about healing, something..."

She stepped forward with a deep breath and lowered herself down to his head. His eyes, she could tell that they were eyes once full of life but their luster was fading quickly. She put her ear to his chest and listened, and rose up again, speaking with a saddened tone and lowered ears.

"Everyone, I'm sorry to say that I think he is suffering from causes on the inside. They are beyond my control. Anything further that I could do would be putting his life in even further danger. What I do next is all up to you."

Lunan spoke up. "What's wrong with him?"

"I can hear the fires raging inside of him. It is growing out of control. Anymore and he'll be burned up on the inside."

Lunan got up. "Veri, come with me, we should talk something over quickly before you continue." She followed him outside the cave.

Once they were alone, Lunan began.

"Veri, I'm trying not to ask too much of you, but they all look to the changed anomalat for guidance. And since I can do nothing I thought that you might at least give us a little more information. My only question now is where you got those impressive medicinal skills."

Veri wondered this herself. "Well, I learned some from the family I stayed with, they were healers. Everything else I saw while living with that man. One of his dogs had something similar once, and I remember going to try and comfort him and he had very similar conditions. When the man shot him, I took a look later at its wound and saw that a strange, steaming gland inside the neck had broken open and had charred much of the dog's innards."

"You seem very wise for your age Veri. I have faith that you will be of much help to us."

She held a distant gaze and sighed. "I hope so too."

Once they were back inside the cave, Veri took another breath and approached the paining creature. She was not hopeful however, of what she could do for him. Just as in the man's dog before it had died, the hissing could be heard from the side of his neck, even underneath all of the thick fur. She took another deep breath and put her cheek to his chest. It was warmer than usual. She walked around him performing other specific checks and stopped again where she had lain near him. She gently pried open his jaws and inspected inside. Veri turned around with a downcast gaze.

"Well?" Lunan was curious.

"Everyone, I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do for your friend. He is beyond my help. I have seen this in a...'Pyre'...only once before, and that was, too, a dire situation. I fear that your friend has but a few days left."

A quiet, chaotic conversation arose among the anomalat as she left the cave. Lunan followed her.

"Lunan, I'm sorry. There's nothing else I could even try without causing him more pain. This is going to bother me for a long time, I can already tell."

"Why don't you go and talk to Elsola. She might be able to help you again."

They both left the cave and headed back to the den.

By the time Veri and Lunan arrived home again, the sky was beginning to show signs of rising. Elsola was just stirring, and got up excitedly as she saw her brother approaching. Lunan told her all that had happened, and she too, hung her head low. Ignicio must have been a dear friend of theirs. Lunan also told Elsola of Veri's need of help again. She nodded in agreement and paced over to where her brother and Veri had sat earlier. Veri told her of her new, feared burden and by the time the sun was fully visible over the horizon she had managed to convince Veri that there was nothing to feel bad for, and that in fact she should feel at least something positive because she had at least tried to help. His death would not have been in vain.

Veri told Elsola that she decided that she would not stay long, and would most likely be leaving during that day. She also told Lunan of her plan, who seemed a little disappointed but supportive nonetheless.

XXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A/N: The eevee-evolutions that she's living with do have some weird words, I know. The reason I gave them an odd vocabulary is that I wanted the species to seem like a very scholarly bunch that wanted to learn about the world around them, without making them seem too human-like. I won't do this for any other characters, and I chose the eevee because they are special in a number of ways so I thought it would fit well. I'm not sure about how well I carried this out, so if they seemed too much like people, please let me know in a review.

Thanks a bunch again for all my reviews so far. :D


	12. Curiosity Caught the Vulpix

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Twelve

Curiosity Caught the Vulpix

Veri sat on the side of the stream opposite from the den, grooming herself, when she heard someone approaching and looked up. It was Lunan.

"Good afternoon Veri," He said with his usual smile. "You managed to sleep nearly most of the day. Are you feeling any better than you were last night?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am doing much better, thank you."

"When...do you plan on leaving?"

"Well, I'm not in any hurry, but I supposed that I'd leave around dusk."

He lowered himself to his haunches. "That's only a few hours away," he said, looking up to the western sky. "So, Veri, umm...since you've been traveling a lot, well, before your long stay with that man, did you ever get lonely?"

She answered him while grooming her ears with a forepaw. "Well, sometimes, yes. But strangely enough, I almost always seem to come across someone who doesn't mind me staying for a while. I mean it's not as if I'm going to live forever, so why not travel a bit, right?"

"Yeah, you're telling me. That would be actually quite boring to live forever. You'd almost get tired of living." He shook his head to shoo a gnat.

"Why do you ask?" Veri asked curiously.

"Well, it's actually nothing in particular, but I've always wanted to travel since I was young. A bird friend of my mothers would always tell me of his travels to far off places and all of the interesting creatures he'd meet. I've just wanted to get out and explore and learn everything for myself, first hand."

She laughed a bit. "You seem like a very intuitive individual, wanting to learn so much and all. For me, I just keep on the move because for some strange reason, I feel like I'm just meant to do something that is of great importance. I suppose that would be the only good thing about living forever, having all that time to try and figure everything out. You anomalat all seem like a very intellectual group."

"Yes, I suppose one could say that. And sometimes, I even wonder if we're not meant to even think about where we came from. It sometimes just seems a tad out of place." He shook his head at the return of the gnat.

"You are the only group of creatures that I've ever met that's bothered to even think about such things..."

"Oh really," He seemed a bit surprised. "That's part of the reason I've wanted to travel; was to see what's out there for that very reason. I don't mean to be abrupt Veri, but do you think that I could travel with you?"

She stopped grooming herself to look at him. "What? Don't you have a family to take care of?"

He cast his gaze downward." I know, and for that I am ashamed. But I talked it over with Elsola today, while you were resting, and I think that she understands. She said that she knew that I have always wanted it since I was young, and so she understands. When I asked her about the kits she said that she would be fine."

"So are you going to?"

"Only if you don't mind the company. I don't want to invite myself where I might not be wanted."

"It's no problem with me. Maybe I won't get attacked by a snake again, or thrown into hell by humans a second time."

He nodded his head and turned tail for the den.

Dusk fell on the pine forest as usual and the birds stopped their daily chatter to settle down for the evening. As Veri sat where she had that afternoon and watched Lunan prepare to leave, she thought about this sweet little family. She wished that the whole world were like it, living peacefully and dedicating much of their existence to learning about the world around them, instead of focusing on violence and the like. While she waited she ran her thoughts past man, and the- man. That was a topic that confused her so. Why had the people who had raised her been so kind to every living thing they came across, but the man with the dogs only showed mercy to his pets. And Veri had most certainly been considered a possession in his eyes, that she was sure of. The thought of humans put her into a trance while her thoughts breezed past events like the fire, Kapok, the venom bite, things that she could remember pieces of. Lunan shook her out of her stasis with a light head butt.

"Veri are you ready?"

"Huh? Oh yes, I'm set I suppose."

Veri watched as he nuzzled Elsola and her kits goodbye, and she barked her leave as well. No sooner was night upon the entire forest. The nincada began their nightly cricket-like symphony and from a pair of trees above the traveling pair, a group of illumise lit up the forest that provided artificial stars for the cloud-covered night. All around them the dark woods seemed to dance with a unique life that many thought did not exist when the sun went down. The lighted insects seemed to move up and down to the song of crickets. In the serenity Veri thought a bit about Lunan- he seemed like a nice individual, and seemed mature for his age, which seemed to be only a few years by the looks of all the different sizes of anomalat she had seen last night. She figured that his species grew fast.

It took them six suns of walking through the seemingly endless pine forest. When the trees and low bushes finally broke away, they saw before them a vast ocean; the setting sun sparkled against every wave and followed each one to where it crashed on shore, and against rocks that sprayed higher than some of the small trees. The shore was a good half a minute's walk from the trees to the water, and the first half of it was a clean mix of shore grasses, large stones, and boulders. Not a human in sight. In fact, the only life that they saw was a small clutch of krabby circling a sand mound in confusion.

"Should we travel along the beach?" Veri asked excitedly.

"It seems that we can't go straight, unless you have fins hidden under all those tails," He laughed to himself and bolted down onto the beach. She followed him as fast as her short legs could carry her on the soft sand until she saw him finally slow up from running out of breath. The sky was a dark pink from the setting sun. While he was regathering himself, Veri began collecting driftwood she found lying around their stopping place. Once she had gathered enough, she dug a hole in the sand and pushed the kindling inside. The vulpix backed herself out of the hole and set the twigs alight with a deep breath of flames.

Lunan was surprised. "Where did you learn to do that, allowing your fire to linger like that?"

"The first years of my life were spent with a large group of kind humans who did many strange things that I didn't understand at the time. An old friend of mine and I would watch the humans make these so that they could stay warm when the sun went to sleep."

Lunan was silent for a while, Veri figuring that he was just enjoying the peace of the night. The peace was disturbed by several faint quacking noises coming from the rocks behind them. Veri turned her head from where she had lain next to Lunan and saw a fairly large number of blue and white water birds perched on the rugged, brown rocks. They were rather odd looking, their heads seeming to be the mass of their body, with large, black eyes that sported an almost vacant look. For a moment, Veri enjoyed watching their feathers ruffle in the breeze. She nudged Lunan and gestured behind them.

"Wingull," he whispered.

Veri set her ears as forward as they would go in an effort to listen in on what they were saying, but they were speaking horridly too fast. She concluded that all birds were extremely difficult to understand and she turned to Lunan again.

"Let's go," she told him with a tiny smirk.

"What?" He seemed a bit confused, but before he could say anything else she was already running at the flock, barking up a frenzy. She jumped up on the rocks, jumping every which way that sent the wingull scattering in every direction, chattering angrily. Veri came prancing back to Lunan and the fire, laughing like she hadn't laughed in a million years. She was still laughing by the time she laid herself back down.

"That was awesome!" she said with excitement. All six tails thumped on the sand.

Lunan could not but hold a smile on his pale muzzle. He knew that she had probably needed something like that for a long time. For quite a while under the dark, cloudless sky while Lunan was fast asleep, Veri just lay and watch the crackling waves of flame that dance up and disappear into tiny licks as they rose to greet the evening sky. It was not long before the pair was sound asleep under the night sky.

The next morning Lunan awoke to find Veri bouncing around the nearby beach, and upon further inspection he realized that she was trying to catch a krabby. The orange creature that was almost as big as she was would slide to the side whenever she went in for a pounce, and snap at her, which would just barely miss, and she would try again. He at first thought she was frightened, but upon waking up further he saw that she was having almost as much as she had the previous night with the sea birds. As he got to his feet and stretched, he watched her shoot a flame at it, which barely hindered the crustacean's swift movements. Once Lunan had awoken himself fully he casually strode over to Veri and crouched low.

"Good morning Lunan," she said cheerfully when she saw him approach. "Just trying to catch us some food."

"Hmm, it doesn't seem that you're getting very far. Why don't you let me help?"

"Alright," She backed away and sat down to watch Lunan work.

He readied his stance, and to Veri's amazement he disappeared completely for a few short moments and the next time she saw him he was already upon the krabby, and had pinned it down.

"Okay Veri, do your thing." At first she was puzzled, but realized quickly that he wanted her to smoke the sea creature. She took a deep breath and blew out, and saw that Lunan moved away just in time to not get burned. The next second they were both staring at a dead krabby.

"Now to get the shell off," Lunan anxiously said as he pounced upon the corpse, using his teeth to pry open the shell. To Veri's surprise, he managed to open it rather quickly, taking only a few minutes. Within the hour both of the mammals were lounging on the beach with full stomachs, next to a hollowed out crustacean shell. The pair napped throughout the rest of the day, chatting small talk when not sleeping, and both felt fully energized came nightfall.

Veri stretched and yawned wide, bearing her tiny, sharp teeth that made Lunan laugh out loud for no apparent reason at all. Veri shook her head in confusion.

"Well, we should get moving," she said. "Although we really don't have any destination in mind."

"That's okay, let's just keep walking along this beach, it can't possibly go on forever. Something interesting is bound to come up."

And so the two left their makeshift camp behind and continued down the beach. Lunan was patient whenever Veri would stop to chat with the local wildlife they passed by. They walked on through most of the night until the sky began to show the faintest signs of dawn, a very light purple tint to the eastern sky. As they rounded a point along the coast however, they saw something that greatly shocked and amazed them both.

Veri had been casually chatting with Lunan about a strange insect they had spotted that evening while walking as they rounded the tip of a small point along the beach when Lunan stopped suddenly in his tracks. He was the first to spot what shocked them. Veri noticed that he was no longer paying attention and turned her head to see what he was looking at. A few minute's walk down the shore stood an enormous woodworking of some kind. It was shaped like some of the curved fruits that had grown in the forest, and had simply massive, white objects at the tops that resembled clouds. Four of these magnificent objects stood just off the shore, rocking slowly in the waves of the dawn.

For a moment they just sat and watched it, wondering if it was either some great creature in hibernation or some uncomprehendable natural phenomenon. Veri's natural curiosity was the first to strike.

"Lunan, what are those things?"

"Veri, I have no idea. I have never seen anything like them."

"They're so big... let's get closer!"

"What? Veri are you joking? I had thought you had better sense then that."

"I do. But it doesn't look that bad. Come on, Lunan, let's just go explore around it. You never know, we might find something cool."

Lunan could hardly believe what he was hearing. He had gotten the impression that Veri was a responsible, ready individual. Her actions now questioned this perception.

"Lunan, I know that you think I am being childish, but it is something we've never seen before, let alone imagine, and-" She was cut short.

"Which is exactly why we should rather be safe than sorry."

"I'll be careful, I promise. After what I've been through the last forty winters, I think I have a pretty good idea of what's trouble and what's not. Besides, didn't you just tell me that you wanted to explore? Now come on."

Lunan sighed and rose to his feet to follow her down the beach.

As they got closer, the vessel seemed to nearly double in size and the waves lapping against the sides of their high walls got exceedingly noisy. No life seemed to be stirring anywhere near them as by now the sun was already most of the way p from the horizon. Veri ran along the sides of the shore, splashing in the shallows and foam in wonder at the strange objects. Lunan simply sat on the rocks behind her watching in dismay.

"Veri," he shouted, "Are you going to circle the beach all morning? It's getting a bit obvious that this is nothing of interest."

"Lunan, I'm just trying to get a close enough look-" Before she had a chance to finish, something looked over the side of the objects from way above them and called out. Within a minute many more were hurrying around the tops of the vessels, shouting frantically and frantically trying to get down. Veri galloped back to where Lunan had been sitting and moved in close to him. The two stood frozen on the rocks until they saw one throw a rope down and several of them slide down into a small, floating box. They were men. As they came closer to shore, Lunan felt Veri begin to tremble next to him. It was not until the men waded onto shore when Veri shouted.

"Lunan, run!"

They galloped back up the beach, trying to head back into the forest, but the men were advancing on them fast. Veri, terrified, stopped in mid-run and turned around, leaving Lunan still heading for the forest. Veri inflated her lungs as far she felt possible and sent out a streaming blaze of fire at two of the men that were closest to them. One of them dodged but fell over onto the sand and the other screamed in pain as the blast hit him almost full-force and sent him running back towards the water. Veri watched as his clothes ignited and flapped behind him, streaming like a banner down the sand. When she saw the both of them down, she turned again and continued running. Lunan was quite a ways ahead of her and already a good way into the brush by the time he noticed her left behind. He turned around and dashed back towards her. Veri took a big leap over a stone trying to reach him, but in a split second she felt something heavy come down over her and hold her tight. Sure enough, one of the men had gotten a hold of her and her squirming did little to thwart his firm hold. She looked back Lunan's way, and saw that he had also stopped in his tracks, frantically deciding his next move. Veri already knew that her time was up; she could not run and her fires were of only a limited deterrent. If Lunan didn't have a plan, she knew what was to come next.

Lunan had apparently thought of something quick, because the next moment she saw him run past her and head butt the man who had a hold of her in the gut. The man lost his balance, but did not fall over. Lunan's next moves made him dissappear and try to leap onto the man's shoulders. This attempt proved ultimately useless however because several more men had already moved up the beach and were trying to get a hold of Lunan. She took a deep breath to try once more to defend herself but was stopped in mid-breath because the man had firmly clasped a hand around her muzzle and held fast. Another tried to reach for Lunan's tail as he fled toward the trees, and as they carried her up the beach she saw Lunan struggling with his own set of men, warding them off with a high-pitched squeal or remarkably powerful tackles. She was already being placed on the floating box that when she saw already halfway up the beach the two men were working on holding Lunan's squirming body fast. Veri was terrified as she heard more men scrambling on the top of the vessels, and heard one shout to the men below, "Hurry up you bastards, we're leaving," She struggled to look back at Lunan, who had apparently managed to break free and the men that had held him were climbing into the floating box. They immediately began rowing it back towards the larger float, and the shore was getting farther away by the second. She struggled as hard as she could to get a look back at the beach, and saw Lunan running up and down along the water, and then finally trying to jump in and swim towards her. But they were already too far away and he could not make it fast enough, for the floating box was already being raised up the side of the larger one with long, thick ropes.

Once all of the men were aboard the deck, Veri twisted and writhed as hard as she could and managed to wrestle free of the man's grip, galloping towards the back of the boat that faced the shore. By the time she got there however, she saw that the boat was a strong fifteen-minute swim from the shore. She knew that she could swim, but not strong like one meant for the water, like a fish. She leapt up to the top of the railing; the jump down was farther then a jump down from a tree. Veri yelped as more men came running towards her. In sudden desperation she took a flying leap off the side of the railing, but a man caught her in mid air. Of course. Veri was almost certain that the hell she had just escaped from was starting all over again. Without much more struggle she allowed them to carry her to the front of the boat, where a man in finely dressed clothing inspected her, and discussed something over with her captor. He next carried her to a room near the back half of the boat and closed the door behind him, leaving a dark room to accompany the vulpix.

A/N: Yay! Pirates! 


	13. Captain Charlie

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 13

Captain Charlie

Veri lay on the floor where she had been dumped, and although it was not a completely dark room, it was dimly lit and allowed little other sound in besides the crashing of the waves outside. Veri ran her thoughts passed Lunan, and imagined him still running along the beach, wondering what to do. But at this point Veri knew that not much else could be done. She had convinced herself that by now, most humans were cruel and selfish and did only things that they saw benefited them. She had never figured out why that man had kept her locked up for so many years, but at the bottom of Veri's heart she vowed to not let this situation come to pass the same way. She refused to let herself fall victim to her own anger once again. Veri went into this ordeal with an outlook of a feral survival, but the following minutes quickly amended that attitude.

Later that evening after she had been cast into the ship's cabin, unbound and able to roam about the room free, two men opened the door and its many locks, allowing whatever light was left of the day to sink inside. One of them, she could tell, was very young, and the other was the one that had held her fast earlier in his arms. The younger human was also the one from earlier, still dressed in his fine clothing and shiny dressings. Veri ran into the corner when she saw then enter, and growled a tiny snarl from the bottom of her throat as the big man neared her corner. Veri was not sure of what was going on, expecting a violent thrashing or harsh words as she had once been given. The large man held her fast as before, but much to her surprise the young man stroked her head gently with a hand. It was too dark to make out their faces for further judgment, but she eased a tiny bit from his light caressing.

When the larger man saw that she presented nearly no struggle, her relaxed his grip more and after another minute he set her on the floor. The large man left, leaving the door open, and for an instant Veri thought about leaping over the side of the boat, but then the vision of the vast ocean flashed her back to reality. It was just she and the young man in the room now, and he had stopped petting her and was now seated on the floor, lightly patting his lap and calling to her softly. Veri got to her feet, and took a step forward, but kept her ears perked, one paw held up, and her suspicious gaze fixed sharply upon him. Still he continued his soft calls, and after a moment of consideration she slowly approached him, while still trying to remain aloof, and when she reached him she slowly sniffed his clothing. He surprisingly allowed her to inspect him freely, and when she had finished he gradually stretched out a hand and pet her behind the head again, by which Veri took great comfort. As he pushed harder, she relaxed even more, and eventually was sprawled out on his lap as he caressed her chest. His hand was rough but warm, and soon Veri drifted off to sleep in his lap. She was awakened suddenly by the man rising to his feet and picking her up.

Veri let him carry her out onto the ship's deck, where he placed her on a barrel. She staggered a bit, being still partly drowsy, but recovered and gazed around at the circle of men that had gathered around the barrel to get a look at the newest crewmember. There were men of many shapes and sizes, large and brawny ones, skinny men that resembled giant twigs, men who were tall and some who were rather short in comparison. But they all stared at Veri in wonder, as if they'd never seen such a creature in their entire life. Suddenly the young man pushed through the crowd and entered the circle. He paced near Veri and bent down, patting her head again, and addressed his men, a hand still on the vulpix's head.

"Men, I'm sure most of you, having grown up on the island Cinnabar, have never seen such a creature in your life," The men whispered to each other. "This here, is a creature of the rarest. Up until now vulpix have been only sighted by the luckiest of men. Men, we are now a handful of those lucky men. Now what makes this beautiful creature so special, you might ask? Well, let me demonstrate…"

He reached down and keeping his head clear of Veri's face he gently felt around Veri's throat and pressed in after a moment. Without realizing it at first Veri opened her jaw and released a large lick of flame that dissipated into the strong sea wind. The men gathered around them gasped. Veri was shocked. She hadn't produced that flame; this man seemed to know the ins and outs of her, and she was amazed. She had just met him and already she looked up to him; he seemed wise and by the way he ordered all of the men back to work, he had power. They all respected him, and he had uncannily gotten Veri to respect him as well. This man commanded reverence, and that was just what Veri decided to give him from that point on. Another odd thing that perplexed the female vulpix was that she had been raised under the belief that elders were in charge. This confused her because this man was younger and most of the men he commanded appeared much older than him. He suddenly grew on Veri and almost right away she loved him.

When everyone had cleared the area and the man had left with a pat on the head, she was alone on the barrel. But not for long however, because from behind her came a voice and the sound and the rhythmic clicking of nails on the hard, wooden floor. She wheeled around and looked down and saw below her, a creature that resembled her in body shape and form, but he displayed a coat the color of slate and a facemask the color of midnight. His eyes were a striking yellow and inside them held red pupils that seemed suave but wary. When she leapt down from the barrel she saw that along his back his fur grew thick and long, but it wasn't messy- it was neatly combed in one direction and flowed all the way to the floor where his tail ended. He truly was a beautiful creature, even for one Veri had never seen before.

He was quiet for a moment as he inspected her, but when he spoke Veri's notions about him being suave and wary were confirmed.

"So you're the new kid huh?" By the tone of his voice he sounded not much older in comparison to Veri, and added to his handsome display.

Veri spoke slowly. "Yes…"

"Well, anyways, welcome to the Distant Maiden. The name of the ship, that is. I take it you've already met my master, Mister Charlie. Everyone else on this wreck calls him Captain Charlie though. He seems to have taken a swift liking to you, so until I see fit, you can call him Charlie."

Veri was intrigued by the fact that the nice young man was this beautiful creature's master; it seemed to fit well.

"So what are we all doing here?" Veri was a bit embarrassed to be asking this question, but she wasn't familiar with everything that was going on.

"Wow, you _are_ new. Come with me, I can explain more in my master's quarters." Veri followed him back to the room where Veri had been first placed.

He sat himself down on a small bed in the corner. Next to it a small object stood on a table, a small flame flickering on the end of it. She watched it as she walked over to him, and sat down on the floor in front.

"Well, first off I guess, name's Oni. You are…"

She paused. "Veri…"

"Nice name. Goes well with you. So you can breath fire huh? That must be really exciting, having all that power inside of you, ready to unleash it upon the slightest whim." His voice rung with a distant fascination.

This response surprised her. She had never thought of it as power before.

"Well, I've never thought of it as 'power', but I suppose it is nice to have,"

"He regards you as so special because we've done _a lot _of traveling but we don't see too many of you fire-breathers. You're one of a kind."

She was surprised. Didn't they know about the rapidash and Kapok's breed? Apparently not. He inspected her again, and while he did Veri decided that, although, weird, she liked this striking, appealing young canine. This boat had some very ruffian, barbaric-like ways, but its inhabitants were very hospitable and kindly. At this thought Veri thumped her tails on the floor. Oni took notice of this and cast her a rather strange look.

"Well, you do have a-" He abruptly got up and walked to her, brushing against her flank. "beautiful name, but because Mister Charlie doesn't know that he'll most likely give you a new name, if that's okay."

Veri tensed up as he made contact with her and her ears perked up as his shoulder brushed past.

"Yeah, th-that's fine…" Her eyes grew wide and she watched him circle her and head towards the door. Before he left he gave her an instruction.

"I can tell you're a bit tired from having been chased by my master's men, so you can go ahead and lay in my bed if you'd like. It's pure down feather. And don't be frightened by my master's men, they're rough but they wouldn't hurt a fly,"

Oni strode out the door and Veri crawled slowly into the fluffy bed.

Veri slept the night away, and had some of the strangest dreams she'd had in a long time, but when she woke up she couldn't remember a thing. The dawn was bright and the bustle of the men came in from outside. Veri leapt off the bed and stretched before trotting out the door. She saw Charlie up on a high platform in the back of the ship behind a large, circular object with many prongs coming out from the rim. Veri looked around and saw men pulling ropes and some up high on the largest pole of three that rose from the deck and held large, white sheets that blew up in the wind. Veri trotted up to Charlie, hopping up several steps and rubbed against his ankle. He reached down and gave her a quick pat, but shooed her away, telling her that he was busy at the moment.

Veri didn't want to be a nuisance, so she made her way around to the front of the boat and looked around for Oni. She found him resting on a crate conversing with a spearow. The bird looked ragged and wind-torn, apparently not a sea bird. Its feathers were ruffled and frayed, and as Veri got closer she grew slightly wide-eyed at the sight that the bird had a missing eye. His right eye was completely gone, and a crusty, black hole lay where it should have been.

Oni noticed her approaching and wagged his tail slightly.

"Veri, this is the only other creature on the boat, and my best friend, Runt. Runt, this is a new friend of mine, Veri."

The bird squawked it's greeting as all birds do, but he was strangely easier to understand than all of the wild birds she'd ever heard.

"Pleasure t' meet ya miss," For a rugged bird he was sure well mannered.

"It's very nice to meet you too Runt," Veri responded politely.

Veri nodded in acknowledgement and wagged her tails a tiny bit. She couldn't help but giggle some when a large gust of wind sent a clump of Runt's feathers astray and over the edge of the boat. This apparently didn't bother the weathered bird, for he hardly seemed to notice. Now Veri was beginning to grow quite curious as to what a forest bird was doing at sea, so she asked him.

"Well miss, just like Oni here I was raised in another land, and then my loyalties grew on one of the men that works this ship. He also has a missing eye,"

So that was who that man was. She had not been able to see him clearly before. She did know that that big man had the most loyalty towards the Captain out of all the men. Veri was already growing fond of this good-natured bird but was taken aback slightly to learn of his poor sense of humor.

"So in that case I suppose me an' my master are literally an 'eye for an eye'! Hahah!" His jolly, shrewd squawk complemented his mannerisms. Veri quickly guessed that most of his jokes were of similar shoddy material, overusing scanty comparisons between expressions and a situation. She saw Oni reel out a fake laugh that seemed real enough and she did the same. Apparently he realized the raw comedy and was polite anyways.

If one word, Veri was certain, could arbitrarily describe this delightful fellow, jolly would be just that. He seemed to always hold a smile, even with a beak, and could always give a good laugh. The two canines spent the rest of the afternoon chatting away with Runt about various subjects that never seemed to get old. Already Veri was enjoying herself, and life that very first day seemed to ease back to the way it should have been; cool, easy, and happy.

Later that day, after the trio had been conversing for a long time, Charlie approached them from behind. They paused in their discussion when they saw him coming, and as Runt flew away to the crow's nest for the night Veri and Oni rushed to greet him. Dusk was nearing its transition to night on the quiet, open sea and a few low lying clouds were illuminated by the moon that had been out for a considerable while.

Charlie bent over on one knee and lovingly scratched the heads of both canines that had both forepaws up on his knee, tongues lolling out and tails wagging furiously. He suddenly scooped up the vulpix into his arm and got to his feet, Oni dropping to all fours and looking up questioningly at his master.

"Not this time boy. We're going to spend some time alone for a while. Why don't you go watch for the whales? They usually come up about this time. I'll call you when its time for bed. Now run along Oni,"

Oni was stunned. Charlie did not want him with him this time. He was sure that since Veri had come onto the ship, his special place in his master's eyes had stayed secure. After all, he had been with the captain nearly from birth. A sudden fear of loss raced through Oni's mind. Before she was carried away Veri saw the sudden gloom in his eyes and tried to reassure him.

"Oni," she said from high above him in her master's arms, "It'll be okay. Charlie still loves you just as much as he did before. Besides, he still wants you to sleep near him tonight, so everything's fine," She smiled at him.

"Uh, okay Veri. I suppose you're right. You two should have some quality time alone anyhow. I'll be, uh, watching for whales…" He sounded accepting but disappointed nonetheless.

He turned and headed towards the front of the ship without another word. Charlie turned as well and walked back toward his quarters.

"You two have seemed to get along well," he said to the vulpix in his arms. "Oni seems a bit jealous but don't worry, he knows he's still the first with me."

Veri mewed softly in response as he closed the door behind him. Charlie sat down on his bed and placed Veri in his lap. He turned his position around so that his back was leaning against the headboard and allowed Veri to get comfortable in the blankets beside him.

Oni hopped up onto the wide railing in the front of the boat and with a sigh looked out over the dark water. He waited for quite a long time in the silent darkness, well, silent except for the loud, hearty laughs of the men below for the whales to come up. Usually he was extremely excited to watch for the massive creatures, but now he was not feeling the same. This was something that him and Charlie had always done, and now it was not as thrilling since he was alone. All of a sudden, and less than the width of the deck, away from the edge, shot up a huge spout of water that rose high into the air. Within a few seconds over a dozen spouts shot up in the air, breaking the near silence with a large blow of air and then a great splash as the water came back down. Then a long moan echoed over the nippy sea air. With all of the whales shooting and moaning at once, there was never a pause between the puffs and splashes. It was truly a spectacular sight. Combined with the moonlight that reflected off the soft, blue hides, and the warm glow of the single lantern hanging on the wall, the entire scene was peaceful. He just wished that Charlie- or Veri- were here to see it. Inside he hoped that his feelings wouldn't rot his relationships with his master, or his new friend.

Charlie had been softly talking to Veri for nearly an hour about any random thing that crossed his mind, all the while stroking her back with a hand. When he heard the long reverberating calls of the whales outside, he quickly got to his feet and set Veri on the floor so that she could follow him outside. They ran up beside Oni, who looked over his shoulder at them in surprise. Veri was astounded at the sight.

"They're huge! And so beautiful…"

Charlie seemed to understand her amazement. He had seen them countless times with Oni, but the sight never ceased to bore him. He patted her head as she cried out at the spectacular display. The cool night wind continued to blow softly around them, and together Veri's new family watched the migration of the wailmer in the dark.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Not much to say here, except that these pirates are going to be more toned-down in order to focus on the relationship between Veri, Oni, and Charlie, along with a comedy relief of a spearow. :D ((The entire time I was writing this I kept getting a picture of Willy Wonka in my head)) We're going to be with these fine bunch of characters until about chapter twenty, so get used to Oni, he's turning out to be quite the character in the chapters ahead. :D

Another thing: I was a tad bit worried about conversational errors in this chapter, but I couldn't find any when I looked over it again. If you guys find any, please let me know.

Oh, and I'll be gone for about two weeks, I mean not that it matters:p but whatever.


	14. Just Another Day

Notes at the bottom…but I want to apologize first for the long wait. D:

Ok..

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Fourteen

Just Another Day

Veri felt herself running through some open field at night, with the grasses rushing past quickly beneath her, but when she looked down she wasn't actually running. There was no moon out, and when Veri looked behind her what she saw chilled her to the bone. The vulpix cowered to the ground as she surveyed the silhouetted scene that lay before her. Two creatures stood, facing each other, one panting heavily with bright, red eyes. It was a large creature on four legs, and a multitude of long tails flowed behind it. Facing it was a creature that was slightly larger, but it was doubled over and it was not breathing. All of a sudden the moon appeared from behind a thick cloud, illuminating the entire scene. Blood was everywhere- it covered nearly the entire face of the standing creature, and was sprayed all over the surrounding grass and along the other beast's neck. Neither moved for the longest moment until the creature with many tails suddenly sent a chilling glare at the vulpix cowering in the grass. It took a step near her and then disappeared.

Veri woke with a start, sweating bullets and feeling overly warm in her upper body. At first, the sudden drop of the ledge right beside her startled the fox, but the sight of Oni sleeping quietly beside her calmed her nerves. It was still very dark, and the whales had apparently gone during the time that she had drifted to sleep. The waves rolled and crashed steadily against the sides of the enormous ship, but the only other sound was the rush of the relentless night wind. The lantern on the wall had long gone out, and for a brief moment, Veri felt utterly alone.

Once again, a glance at the sleeping Oni beside her put her at ease, and laying her head on her paws, she tried to get back to sleep. A good hour passed before Veri realized that she would not be able to return to sleep so easily and almost right away she knew why- that dream...that dream she had been having for years it seemed like. The one with the looming, black figures and the darkness that haunted her thoughts afterwards. What was the beast with the many tails? Why did she feel an unexplainable kinship with it? Why were her nightmares always plagued by the one creature, and nothing else? All these questions made Veri's heart begin to race. It was not every night that she had these reoccurring dreams, but when she did have a bad dream, they were always filled with that one particular fiend...that specter that was so distant but familiar. She could not explain it. The fox was in despair about her dreams and over the thought that no one would ever be able to help her interpret them. All of a sudden Oni awoke and sleepy-eyed, turned his head to look up at her.

"What are you doing up so early? And why are you all wet?"

"I- I'm not sure. I couldn't sleep,"

"Come on, no one simply wakes up for no reason? Is something on your mind? It must be pretty drastic with all this sweat,"

Veri looked down at the ledge in uncertainty.

"I, I had a bad dream,"

"Oh, bad dreams huh? Well, just remember that they're only dreams and mean nothing more."

Veri sighed inwardly and spoke with a faded, shaky tone. When it came to her dreams, Veri was sure of nothing. "Yeah, I suppose...It's just,"

"What?"

"I just keep having the same nightmare, over and over, and I don't know what to think about it,"

Despite the weariness in her voice Oni was adamant about his opinion.

"Well, like I said, dreams mean nothing as far as I'm concerned. Just try not to think about it when you don't have to. I've had bad thoughts while I sleep countless times and my life has never come close to what they were about."

His answer seemed almost agnostic in a way...but still Veri thought over her dream. Oni found his opinion was not making any headway and quickly changed the subject.

"Runt tells me that some strange looking sea birds are headed this way; he said they should be here by the afternoon. Charlie calls 'em pelipper, and they are no doubt one of the weirdest looking creature's I've ever seen. I think you'll get a kick out of meeting them too. Runt has a friend in the flock and whenever they migrate our way they stop and say hello,"

The thought of meeting a new creature suddenly filled Veri with a sense of discovery. Lately she'd found that she'd developed a strange desire to learn and at the mention of strange birds, this desire surged through her mind.

"I'd like that a lot!" Veri chimed.

Oni seemed satisfied with her response. "Good, I'm glad. You need something to get your mind off these

silly dreams anyhow."

Veri's mind was already surging with thoughts of the events later that day. The darkness over the sea began to make Oni reinterested in sleep as Veri got to her feet and leapt off the ledge onto the deck.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To talk to Runt,"

"He's sleeping. And besides, how are you going to get his attention way up there without waking the whole ship?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Runt always gets up early to watch the sunrise- it'll be here in a few minutes,"

He looked to the east- after all his life at sea he just now noticed that the sun was just barely making its way over the barren horizon for the day. Runt did indeed take joy in watching the sunrise, and all of them knew it well.

He hoped that she would try and be as little of a bother as possible while Runt was viewing his daily

display, but whatever happened would happen. Oni laid his head on his paws as he watched Veri

pad over to the main mast before falling back asleep.

Veri made her way over to the large pole and stared up. The sheer height made her momentarily dizzy but she shook it off and looked around for how to go about getting the spearow's attention. No ideas came to mind, but she didn't need an idea. Runt was peering down at her over the side of the highest beam. She hoped that she wouldn't be a bother but she had some questions.

"Hey-" Veri started shout but remembered what Oni had just said. Instead she jumped up and down, hopping up onto a crate and back off, hoping that her excitement would get the idea across. Sure enough, it worked, and he came feathering down and landed beside her. His face was expressionless and Veri hoped that she wasn't bothering him.

"Good mornin' Veri, care to watch the sun come up with me?"

The fox was relieved. "Uhh, yeah I'd love to,"

Her unsure response gave him the feeling that she really hadn't come for that sole purpose. Right away he inquired, as Runt made a personal effort to be as altruistic as possible.

"Something…on your mind Veri?"

When she realized that he knew about her intentions, which had been made obvious nonetheless, she told him about what Oni had said.

"Oh yes, I remember now. I'd almost forgotten about that. Ferra is coming by with her flock later today. It's been so long..."

"Ferra?"

"Oh yes, Ferra is a good friend of mine who I've known for probably close to seven seasons now.

She travels across the sea and along the coast every year, and since her flight patterns are regular, it's usually pretty

easy for me to guess when she'll be stopping by."

Veri knew what it was like to travel, but doing it so often? She thought hard but couldn't get a grasp on what it would be like. Runt interrupted her thought.

"You seem particularly enthusiastic about meeting her. I think you'll find Ferra and her family to be quite interesting. We always have fun whenever she drops in."

Veri began thinking about all the fun that they and a flock of crazy birds could possibly have, but, much like the thoughts on frequent traveling, she couldn't get a full grasp on what was to come. In fact, it made the vulpix even more excited knowing that she'd have to wait and see.

As the two just sat and watched the sky catch fire in the east, Veri's ever-inquiring mind drifted to Oni once more. She longed to know more of his past. Sure he had been claimed as a young pup by Charlie and they had been closer than fearow at a feeding frenzy ever since, but it seemed to Veri, no matter how distant, that there was something else...something that he was not telling her- or anyone for that matter. Veri had never liked anyone who had anything to hide, but with Oni, something seemed...off.

Veri promised herself that she would find out what else Oni was keeping from the world…eventually.

By the time the sun was completely into the sky Veri heard Charlie stirring from inside his room. Without even flickering an ear she turned and ran for the door. Runt didn't mind, as he knew where she was going. Just as soon as she left he lifted himself into the air and flew over to where Oni was still sleeping on the ledge. He didn't want to awaken the dog, for he knew what Oni was like if woken up for the wrong reasons.

On her way around the deck Veri had planned on waiting outside the door, maybe with an anxious whine for taste, but he opened the door nearly the same instant she came galloping around the corner. When she saw him standing there she suddenly tried to slow herself, but she had been so startled she couldn't control her stop and skidded right into an old, worn barrel of ropes. She was going so fast that she crashed right through the side and instantly became tangled in the heavy cords. Charlie watched the entire thing and when she finally careened to a stop he burst out laughing in such a way that Veri had never heard any human laugh before. Even though she knew

Charlie's laugh meant her no harm, she still felt rather sheepish. She slowly got to her feet and shook off the ropes, and then made her way over to Charlie, who was just now recovering from his laughing. He picked her up and

Veri positioned herself over his shoulder, just like she always did. And oh, how at that very moment she wished she could speak and tell him how much she admired him, and all the adventures she had been on, and all of the creatures she'd met. Veri imagined spending hour after hour telling her master how relieved she was to have finally found someone as amazing as he was. How lucky Oni was to have him. She imagined asking an innumerable amount of questions about where he'd come from, and what he'd seen on all his own travels. At the thought of all this excitement Veri suddenly became overjoyed, and spanked her tails against the back of Charlie's shoulder. When he felt this, he reached a hand back and gave her a strong rub behind the ears- just where Veri liked it. He always seemed to know the right thing to do.

As she was perched on his shoulder, he walked around and down the stairwell into the area below-deck, where half of his crew was still sleeping. As Veri watched his face intently, just standing there in the stairwell, a strange, cunning smile came across his face. Seeing this, Veri wagged her tails and knew that he had thought of something clever and was planning it out as she thought about all this. After a moment he moved forward and off of the stairs. Veri began to follow but he motioned with his hand to stay where she was. At first she was confused, but by the way he was creeping around all of the sleeping and snoring men on their benches and hammocks while placing something along the floor, she tried to be secretive herself by sliding in between the rungs of the stairs where only her tiny nose could be seen. It was quite a curious sight, to see a man weaving silently around the beds and a tiny fox peeking out from under the step. Finally, when he crept back from the other side of the room, he stopped where he had begun and kneeled down, calling Veri quietly. The vulpix's ears perked up, and squeezing through the gap she trotted over to him. Before she had a chance to figure out what he wanted, she looked down and saw what he was pointing at. On the floor lay a trail of black string that intertwined between the rows of sleeping men. Under each bed was a tiny bead that sat along the string. Charlie patted his hand on the tip of the twine that rested in front of him. Veri wasn't quite sure what he planned to do. Seeing her unsure hesitation, he placed his finger under her throat and gently pushed in, forcing Veri to release a tiny spout of flame. The fire set the end of the string alight, and the instant it did Charlie grabbed Veri around the waist and flew up the stairs. From around the corner where the stairs disappeared onto the top deck, they watched as the little flame traveled along the line, and when it reached a bead, a crackling spark would rise up, startling the man who was slumbering just above it. From where they were the pair could see each man jump up as he was scared out of his sleep from a little spark that erupted beneath each of them.

Veri wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Was it intended to be entertaining? Charlie was certainly laughing. Not wanting to embarrass herself again, she let out two loud barks to try and show that she too, found whatever it was that Charlie was doing had been humorous. And surprisingly, none of the men seemed agitated at his prank. They simply sat themselves upright and yawned or stretched. Veri, for some reason, was quite puzzled as to the men's reaction. Perhaps she'd expected a little more out of their initial response. Well, whatever the case, Veri found the whole turnout of the situation rather boring, and without another thought she turned and trotted back up the stairs. She heard Charlie say something to her as she left but she couldn't make out what he had said. The vulpix turned the corner and went around to where she had been napping before.

Veri wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before coming across Runt perched quietly on a stack of ropes. She inspected him thoroughly, wondering what he was doing. The bird's distant gaze was fixed on the horizon, and he looked all over the skies that hung above them as if watching intently for something.

Runt let out a thoughtful moan.

"The drafts are a bit quicker this morning. I suspect that they will be here sooner then expected. That's a good thing though, for the sooner you can meet Ferra, the better. More excitement sooner!" Runt chuckled his trademark laugh; one of the things she enjoyed most about the scrawny old bird.

"So how soon do you think until they come?"

"Well, it's hard to say, but definitely sometime this morning. The current at the level they fly at is unusually strong this morning, so watch out. And speak of a sprawl they're here!"

Veri looked out onto the cloud-littered horizon. She had to squint, but sure enough, a black cloud of sorts was heading straight their way.

00000

Alright…again, I apologize for the wait….the last six months have been the most painful yet amazing at the same time, so. Before I go on any further I have quite a bit to rant about. :D

First things first; I think a lot of my descriptions are getting rather shallow and rushed. Now, I admit to being a terribly self-conscious person and a perfectionist, and so maybe it's just me. But if you notice anything that's even a bit odd, please let me know.

Then there's me being worried about Oni and Runt being described too similar, and Veri being too superficial. These things, I suppose are just things to point out if they could be improved, besides the fact.

Lastly, if you have nothing better to do:D, check out my other story and tell me what you think- I've had it out for six months and haven't got a review. Thanks for being patient everyone, and I have bits and pieces of the next few chapters written, so once I finish butchering this one with your advice I can move on. :D


	15. Ferra

A/N: Once again, I apologize with all of my soul for such a long wait. D: I've had quite a few ups and downs in the recent months, but here's chapter fifteen. More ranting goodness at the bottom :D …

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Fifteen

Ferra

Before Veri realized it, the dozen or so birds that had landed on the front deck of the ship had increased tenfold. As the squalor and racket increased by the second, the vulpix's alert ears twitched every which way to take in each sound and ruckus, her ever-shifting eyes danced at the excitement and vibrance that had descended so quickly upon the ship that had been silent just moments before, and her nose took in a scent even stronger than that of the seawater; it was almost indescribable, like one of a chaotic, faraway land that held a whole new world. It was a strangely putrid but invigorating scent that contained hints of seawater, rotting grasses, a fresh but unfamiliar vegetable, and…dung?

Veri shook her head violently at the apprehension that part of what she smelled was bird droppings. In her excitement she noted a rather amusing sight– one of Charlie's men had ambled up from below deck and was running, or attempting to run, back and forth in a fruitless attempt to shoo the enormous flock away. He gave up rather quickly and sauntered back down the steps, mumbling and grumbling to himself. Veri then anxiously began scanning the crowd for a sign of Runt or Oni. Upon a first inspection she did not see them crowded into a small corner by the sheer mass of the squawking horde, but spotted them and plodded her way through the masses to reach them. Oni greeted her enthusiastically.

"Veri! It's about time you found us! This is Ferra, who Runt was telling you about earlier today,"

Veri turned her head to get a look at whom she was about to be introduced to. Standing very near to the spearow was another bird, who was covered in large, white, fluffy feathers. Her wings were large and folded awkwardly to her sides, and nearly covered a small, fanned-out tail that was lined with a blue the color of the sea that surrounded them. Her feet were also large and unwieldy, but when the vulpix's examining eyes reached the head of their guest, she saw exactly why. The striking bird possessed a long, slender beak, not unlike Veri had ever send before, but it astounded her to set eyes on the _enormous_ throat that hung from her beak and throat. It was a huge bag of skin that made this visitor unlike anything the vulpix had ever seen before. Veri's mind raced back to how she loved to meet new individuals, but this was almost as shocking as the walking mushrooms she had lived with so long ago. But once she got past the amazement of the enormous throat, Veri saw what lively eyes the beautiful bird possessed. They were considerably large and full of life and character, and complimented her slender female form well. Veri's first impressions were completed when the bird greeted her with an overly enthusiastic welcome.

"Hi! I'm Ferra! I'm sure you know Runt, this handsome old fellow over here, and this is my family! It is a pretty big one, eh? That's M'pao, and that's my cousin Laro, and over there, by the wall is my Aunt Riatta, and oh my word there's just way too many to name right now. How about you? Do you have a really big family? Is it like mine? Oh my word, I am so sorry! I forgot to ask you your name! And you are…?" When the unexpected tangent had ceased Veri took a deep breath of relief, trying to absorb what she had just heard as quickly as possible and answer her question as to not look foolish. Then again, Veri found it hard to appear foolish in front of such a forward individual.

"I'm Veri. It's very nice to…meet you," Veri's words came out slow and hesitant, as she was not quite sure how to answer after what she'd just absorbed. Much to her undying relief, Oni seemed to have noticed her covert despair and stepped in to rescue her.

"Ferra! It's nice to see you again and that you're doing well. How are you and your mate faring?" By his discomfited tone Veri realized he was desperate for a question to ask her in order to keep the conversation moving.

"My mate? Which one? The third or the second?"

Oni's ears and eyes perked up in sudden astonishment, and then fell in embarrassment.

"You-your third? I'm terribly sorry miss, I didn't know that there have been others…with…" Oni, too, failed at a loss for words with the animated female. Runt watched all this happened and took the lead. Veri was secretly grateful for this; obviously he knew her better than either of them.

"So, Ferra, where is he? That him over there, by the wall?"

Ferra grew wide-eyed in astonishment. "You remembered? You're the first to ever do so! But yes, that's him over there," She then proceeded to call over to him in a tone that was shrill and high-pitched in such a way that Veri sighed in remembrance that almost all birds seemed to speak in this way. A moment later another creature that much resembled Ferra came wading through the crowd. But he was tall–his mate was only three-quarters his size and his bill was simply enormous. For a moment Veri could have sworn that she would be able to fit comfortably inside his mouth alone, given she ever get the chance. His muscles were thick and his build was strong, but he was not bulky or ungainly in any sense. Veri could easily see why Ferra would choose such a fellow for a companion.

"This is Mar, my mate. He doesn't talk much, but he is sure handy to have around,"

Veri observed that Oni had waited for a pause in order to lean over and whisper something to Runt.

Veri took the initiative this time, for a reason even unbeknownst to her. Perhaps she felt the need to be more forward?

"It's very nice to meet you Mar," Veri told him politely and then turned again to Ferra. "So how far have you all traveled? Runt tells me that you're from the other side of the sea. Is this a journey you make every year?"

Ferra seemed to have calmed down slightly.

"Yes, he's right, we are indeed from the far lands, but as for the journey, well, I've been back and forth for my entire life, just like everyone here, so its not much anymore," She smiled best she could; her beak appeared to be very dense. (It was nothing like Runt's smile; Runt's beak appeared to be softer than that of normal birds.)

Oni decided to step in.

"So how was the flight this year? I believe this is only our second or third meeting yet I don't think you've ever shared an experience of your journey,"

Ferra looked up to the sky inquisitively.

"Well, it's an odd thing, really. There's never anything new, despite any good things I have to say about it. It's nothing more than days and days of flying over water without much rest. We only stop once a day perhaps, and even by doing that, we are at risk," As Veri listened intently she noted Runt's occasional acknowledgment of her words. "When we do stop for rest, we all settle in a cluster, floating atop the water. But of course, there are dangers below the water and its not uncommon for us to lose two or three to their hunger," A dismal, saddened tone hung in Ferra's voice, which caused Veri to feel similar. Veri knew well the feeling of loss, and so she, perhaps over all of them gathered there, knew Ferra's pain best. Much to Veri's surprise however, the female bird tried to change the tone.

"Well, let's not melt over that that cannot be changed," She looked beside her at her still silent mate, and then back at her company. "I have a gift for all of you! Follow me." Ferra turned and took wing so that she landed on top of a rope that was draped across two high poles. She called to someone in the crowd in her quickened, unfamiliar language and then flew back to where the group had followed her a ways into the white, squawking crowd. They were soon back in the familiar little circle, except Mar had disappeared and a new bird was beside Ferra.

"Runt, I cannot thank you enough for again allowing my family and I to visit and rest here," she announced. "And in return I've been planning a small gift as a token of my thanks," She took a step back and nodded to the rather plump looking bird beside her, who opened his bill, (which Veri noticed was even larger than Mar's) and dumped out six medium-sized fish of the strangest colors.

The two canines' mouths hung open in awe, for they'd never seen such a fish in their entire lives. Runt, of course, had not seen this breed of fish, but had head much about it. The three of them gazed down at the six little fish in wonder, admiring its glistening lavender scales that reflected every bit of the sun's rays. They were of course, dead, but the flesh looked thick and new. They all stood in utter awe, but Veri examined them closest of all, being the curious creature that she was. The vulpix marveled over their long, slender, bodies and the tiny lilac fans on the end of each tail. A thin, transparent fin trailed just above their tiny heads, and she marveled over their huge, once lively eyes. It was quite a beautiful bunch of fish, until of course, Ferra informed them that they were a gift of food.

Veri looked up suddenly when she heard Ferra say this.

"I figure you must all get tired of eating the same surface fish all the time, and so I brought you a treat from the far lands. Of course, I did not catch these myself, as these particular creatures live only in the deepest parts of the sea, but rather I snagged them from a fisherman just as I was leaving the bay," She giggled slightly as she said this, and imagining it Veri did so as well. Oni noticed this and unleashed his hesitation.

"May I try one now? I'm famished!" Veri frowned at his comment. He had just eaten earlier that day. Ferra obliged with a friendly nod.

Without another word, Oni snatched one of the gorgeous fish and began to chomp hungrily at them. Runt and Veri watched him in anticipation for a response. Finally Oni looked up at them, a fishbone hanging from his jaw, with a grin of utter satisfaction plastered to his muzzle.

"Ferra, they're amazing!" She too, nodded in approval.

"Veri, Runt try one!" He went back to finishing his small meal.

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then took one each for themselves.

Runt was the first to comment. His exultant smile alerted everyone gathered around that he enjoyed the gift just as Oni had. Veri watched Runt take his second bite, and then took one herself. It was an odd taste, really, but the way the meat fell into little pieces as she chewed the juicy fish. Halfway into each bit the sweet juices would squirt out into her mouth, filling the vulpix's tongue with a taste she'd never before experienced. Veri finished hers even before Oni did, much to even her surprise. Once she had finished, Veri returned to her haunches and sighed in satisfaction.

She cast her vacant gaze at Oni, who stood from where he'd just been about to take his last bite, wide-eyed at the feat the vulpix had just performed.

"Veri…were you hungry?"

She smiled sheepishly, letting her ears fall some.

"Not famished, I was just…the fish was just so good!" She turned to Ferra as Oni took his last bite. "Thank you Ferra, I don't believe I've ever had anything quite like this before,"

The white bird nodded in approval.

"Of course, anytime. Any friend of Runt's is a friend of mine! There are three left, so you three have enough left for another helping, when you're ready that is," She laughed to herself a bit. "By the looks of Oni here, they'll last you another day maybe,"

Runt and Veri turned to look at Oni, who was now spread out onto his back; legs sprawled out like an overturned turtle. Veri found this to be quite amusing, and in mocking him, did so herself. By the time the moment was over all four of them were lounging on their backs, watching the clouds drift past. Someone tried to say something but no one was sure who made the remark or what it was because of all the chattering that still saturated the air around them.

Eventually Oni piped up.

"Ferra?" He twisted his fore body so that he could face the white bird. "Pardon me if I seem a bit rude but, I have to ask. Doesn't this constant squawking ever bother you? Or anyone in your family for that matter?"

Inside, Veri wanted to slap him for such a question, but then again, she was curious herself. She cocked an ear toward them, trying to appear inattentive.

"That's not a rude question at all Oni. In fact, I wonder that sometimes myself. But as far as I've ever seen, I don't believe that anyone has ever complained about it. I do know that some of the older ones grumble about the noise every now and then, but we try again and again to show them that each time they complain they're right back at it, the chattering,"

Her response forced Oni to back down any response he'd had planned, for now he felt rather silly, especially in front of Veri. It was not long until the droning of the flock actually put them all to sleep.

Veri opened her eyes to find that nothing much had changed since she fallen asleep, save for the position of the sun, which was much lower on the horizon than it had been when the birds had first arrived. She sat up and looked around, spying Oni and Runt still lost in slumber. Runt snored sometimes in his sleep; Veri could often hear it late at night from his perch high up in the mast, and this time was no different. That and a tiny trail of saliva had begun to ooze out from the side of Oni's mouth. She shook her head in embarrassment and wandered away to try and find Ferra, whom had strangely disappeared, amidst the crowd that had quieted down some in the recent hours. After much searching and inquiring, she found the bird sitting alone on a pile of sackcloth near the starboard railing.

She looked almost depressed.

"Ferra?" Veri's soft voice caught the bird's attention, who did nothing more than shift a glance at the approaching vulpix.

"Are you alright? Everyone else is still sleeping,"

The bird said nothing.

"Why aren't you speaking? Everything seemed well before we slept,"

When she got no response for a third time, the vulpix gave up and began to turn around, a downcast gaze. She knew well enough what depression felt like, and all the uncertainty that went with it. Ferra stopped her before the vulpix could get too far.

"Veri, I…I'm sorry," she said, her voice as blue as the sea.

Veri quickly turned to face the bird. The low light of the sun made the scene feel even more serene.

"Why are you sorry?" What did she have to apologize for? As far as Veri was concerned Ferra had been hospitable to them even as a guest, and she seemed happy, even overly happy upon their first meeting. What could possibly be wrong?

"It's just I see how close you three are to these humans…and, well…I just haven't had a positive history with them,"

Veri wished to know more about Ferra's feelings against humans, but she had found that simply talking about other things helped someone take their mind off their troubles, so she tried this tactic.

"Could you perhaps tell me about your homeland; where you come from?"

Ferra seemed to sense Veri's curiosity and took a deep breath. Inside, she smiled with a warm satisfaction about Veri's zest for inquiry.

"My home is a very beautiful place. In fact, if my mother's mother hadn't pushed me to fly across the sea with them, 'as a bird of our breed is supposed to' she'd say, I most likely would have stayed there. Perhaps even start a family of my own,"

Her words of a potential family captivated the vulpix. Ferra seemed like she would make a wonderful mother if given the opportunity.

"Do you have any children of your own?"

The white bird looked away. "No, not yet. That's where we are on our way right now, actually, to the winter nesting site. Mar and myself hope to begin there,"

"I'm sorry, I hadn't any idea. I'll admit I'm not very familiar with the practices of other creatures."

Much to her surprise, Ferra looked back at her with another warm smile.

"It's alright, at least you've bothered to ask."

Veri felt overly relieved. She'd hoped her comment would be easily pardoned.

"So what does your home look like?"

Now Ferra set her gaze skyward, but it was one of wonder and deep thought, as if searching deep into her memory for something that she'd not brought to light in a long while.

"My home…my home is a very beautiful place," she repeated. "With very dark waters, but they're very clean. There hasn't been a season where the fish haven't journeyed in plump and fresh. It's a bay…with the waters near the shore dotted with jagged rocks that are partly above the surface, and partly below. The beach is almost always occupied by the strangest of sea creatures, but whom also spend much of their time on land. They are huge, long creatures; some deep blue, others a color of the midday sky, and they spend all day chanting up some of the most annoying tunes. Some of the largest ones have enormous teeth that the stubborn ones do nothing but pit against each other with. However, the newborns are rather cute. Their little ones appear much like a rounded stone, and their fur, I do believe that's what it's called, is fuzzy and compliments well with their enormous black eyes. I've never bothered to speak with one, and so I find the adults to be rather ungainly and stupid.

"The land just beyond the beach slopes up ever so gently, and then begins a thick wood that I've never actually flew over, but I'm told some very vicious creatures live in it.

"In the spring, when we birth our chicks, we have to watch out for the creatures in the shallow water that like to feed on them. Each spring, I remember, we lost two or three to the creatures under the sea. But that's why we began flying again to our new nesting site, one that's protected from dangers like that.

Veri was astounded.

No one said much for the time that followed, an by the time half of the sun had vanished into the sea Ferra turned once more to the vulpix at her side.

"Veri, I must be going now, in order to catch the evening current, but I'd like to thank you, for just talking. It really helped me in finding a way to focus on things other than the problem." She took a short flight to a small clearing in the midst of the crowd. From where Veri was lying she watched as Ferra spoke something in her loud, quickened tone and began to make her way toward the ledge, where Oni and Runt followed close behind. The vulpix saw her say something to her two friends and then suddenly take wing into the sky, followed by what seemed to be Mar and the rest of her family. The silence of their exit was stunning, contrasting much to the deafening, obnoxious flock that had arrived earlier that day. Within moments, they were nothing but a dark cluster on the waning horizon, just as they'd been earlier as well. Veri saw Oni run behind a wall, followed by the call of Charlie.

A/N: Alright, this may just be my self-criticism kicking in, but if you find any errors with Ferra's personality development (however short), please, please let me know. I wanted her to come off as not ditsy, but very energetic and enthusiastic upon meeting new people (animals?), and then resume a more normal temperament once relaxed. Strange as it may be, but my character creation is a little dry right now. :D

As far as the next several chapters go, I have 17, 18, and 19 almost all set, (don't ask) and so once I get 16 finished (which is going to be somewhat of a challenge) I'll post it and then the next three :D It seems to me that it may even be until chapter 23 or so that Oni and company is with us, but I'm not really sure.

I finally have the second chapter of Talo posted as well. Give me forty lashes with a wet noodle and let me know what you think. :D

Next chapter's going to cause the rating to rise -just- a hair ;D.

Until then, Crystalryu


	16. A Maiden of Sensuality

**A/N:** Once again, I apologize three thousand times over for so long of a wait. School and work is slowly eating away at my creative abilities.

Now, about this chapter…well…more apologies at the bottom.

Chapter 16

A Maiden of Sensuality

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Veri nuzzled Charlie as he held her, one hand around her waist, the other at the large wheel that steered the boat. Veri licked his face, and he hugged her tight again. Veri loved him. He was the most gentle of humans that Veri had ever been with. Even the humans she had first lived with were not this affectionate. He made her feel loved, like she was something to be prized; something special. Veri looked out onto the sea as the steady wind rushed through her fur and windswept her master's long hair.

Oni was not jealous of Veri, for Charlie still showed him an equal amount of affection and he proudly sat at his master's feet, the wind sweeping through his thick fur as well. Oni was a proud breed, having been born in a foreign land, and had been with his well-traveled master nearly from birth. This was his third summer, and he had loved Charlie from the very first moment. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of air that rushed by.

It had been nearly three weeks since Veri had been accepted on the ship, and her trust in her master was already so great that she often felt that she trusted him more than herself. All of a sudden he took his hand off of the wheel and placed it behind Veri's head, scratching it as he always did, and he made his way down from the stern and into his quarters, whistling for Oni to follow. He placed Veri on the floor with a final pat, and gestured Oni inside, and left with the door closing behind him. Veri heard the outside lock click closed and heard him walk away toward the front of the ship.

Veri grew a bit worried at the sound of the locks, but trusted him and looked back at Oni. Oni slowly approached her with an enticing gleam in his eyes. Veri trusted him as a close friend as well, but backed away slightly.

"Oni…?"

"What? Are you afraid? Don't be. It'll be okay," His voice was soothing but something didn't seem right. He got closer and Veri backed away still.

"Wha-what are you doing?"

"He didn't tell you? Oh, I overheard him talking to his men earlier and he told them that because you were so rare, it might be a good idea to breed a few more so that your species doesn't die out. He said others like you are hard to find, and so he wants to have a few little ones running around, if you get it,"

Veri began to grow scared. She did not like the way he was talking. She did not think that what Oni had said he'd planned to do was out of a sinister mindset, but this seemed out of the ordinary. She also loved Oni dearly as any friend would do, but she was growing scared of what she thought he intended.

"Oni…"

His ears laid back. "Veri, don't be afraid. Its something wonderful that everyone must go through; its, it's a part of life,"

"But I…I don't…"

"Why not? Don't you think it would be a wonderful experience? I'm sure you'd think so, from being so beautiful and all…" He approached her slowly as she got caught up against the back wall, and he brushed against her as he had done before, and nuzzled her cheek, and nipping at her flanks. Veri was not sure what to do. She was not sure what to feel. She knew that Oni's friendship to her was true, but why he would want to go about doing such a thing? Veri didn't know if having offspring was something she wanted at that moment. But she didn't know if this was something that she wanted to turn down either. Veri laid her ears flat and backed against the wall as far as she could, but it did not make much of a gap between her and him.

She tried her plea again. "Oni, I don't want to- I mean I'm not ready to-" It did not hinder his intentions.

"Veri, why are you not being supportive? Do you want to be one of the last vulpix to ever walk this earth?" His face was up close to hers now, and his breath was sweet with the cooked fish they'd dined upon that morning.

"If you think I'm trying to take advantage of you, please don't. My intentions barely pass my friendship with you, I promise. I'm just doing the will of my master, and he wants you to birth more like you so that your species doesn't disappear. Please, just trust me. Must I explain it again? It can be something so wonderful…"

"How…how would you know…?"

"Once during a stop on the mainland I met a young lady by the name of Sepia who had been turned away by her mate. Her heat was nearly up and I felt bad for her…"

"You…you…" Veri was terrified.

"No, Veri. You don't understand. Mating _is _part of life. How do you think your mother made you? Things like that only happen when a male is taken as her mate. Veri, I won't go through with this if you really don't want to. But please, just hear me out, I-" He paused; stopping himself when he found his voice had grown too tense and impatient. Oni took a deep breath and backed away a few steps from Veri, walking quietly over to his bed. He did not lie down however.

"Veri, why don't you come over here and just lie down? I'm going about this the wrong way. You should come and relax. I'll go across the room if you'd like,"

Veri sank to her back, still curled up against the wall, but got to her feet and curled up in the bed.

"No…stay here. Err…I mean you can stay if you'd like."

Oni smiled warmly to himself and took up the space Veri had left for him in the bed. He curled his tail around several of Veri's tails, laying his head upon her neck. They both lay there; awake but silent, thinking about what had just happened. Oni had so strongly hoped that she could not have been so frightened. But then again, he had come off a little harder than he should have. He still wanted to mate with her however; she was a beautiful vixen, an angel dragged from out of the heavens and onto his beloved ship. No doubts this time he would actually get to see his young grow up, even if they didn't resemble him in the least. Deep down, he hoped over and over that she would change her mind.

Veri's thoughts raced through her own end of the predicament, combing through the situation until it was picked clean of any flaws that may have tried and swayed her judgment. As terrified as she was, and as much as she trusted Oni, she was still left hanging by her own judgment and what would ultimately make _her_ happy. Veri wanted to please Charlie, as well as not to be the last of her kind, but she felt a little unnerved about carrying children and the actually process of creating them. Veri knew about such things, but of course had never endured them. She had seen the hassle and energy it took to raise young, having been an older sibling figure to six for a year, but remembered often the joys and emotions of the job as well. One thing that did bother her about his words however was that he mentioned taking one as a mate in order to produce young. Mates were intended to love one another right? Or was Oni simply contradicting himself?

At this point she wasn't certain of Oni's true feelings for her, or his so called "friendly" intentions, but somehow she just knew his words were meaningful. Veri wanted to outright ask him how he felt, but the silence between them quickly slashed the idea. At this point Veri was desperate to make a decision. For Oni and for herself. Oni had asked her to rest in order to calm her thoughts, but she was only allowing her thoughts to rage through her head even more to reach a quick solution. Veri groaned aloud at the chaos rushing around inside. Oni heard her moan and raised his head, ears pricked forward.

"Veri, are you alright? I thought you had drifted off to sleep."

Veri raised her head as well and frantically wondered what to tell him. All she could muster was "I…I'm fine." Pathetic.

"Are you still frightened? I am in the need to apologize for coming on so abruptly. I hope you can forgive me."

Her heart already went out to him. "I do Oni, I do. And I fully understand now why you would want to go through with such a thing. I was just taught that…that mating was something for lovers," Her voice seemed saddened.

"I understand as well your side of things. In fact I was taught the same. But apparently I did not grow to follow such unwritten rules," He smiled his charming smile and licked her muzzle. He got up to leave. "When you're ready, I'll be so as well." Oni scratched at the door and a moment later one of the men let him out. Veri drifted back to sleep.

Several days later a rumor of the next port being close was secretly passed around the ship. This was also the day Veri found Oni sleeping in late and decided to re-confront him about his master's request.

Oni looked at her with a great mix of emotions– something relatively new to him since he'd met Veri. How she confused him so.

"Veri, why have you come back to me?"

She was shocked by his question. She'd been under the strong impression that at his whim and her mere consent that he'd go right after her. But now, a whole other realm of possibilities about Oni's intentions was suddenly opened by his single question. All of a sudden it was not a simple matter of "I'll mate with you whenever you're ready," No, now it occurred to the vulpix that he wanted something more of her–and as the moments of silence passed it became clearer and clearer to her exactly what he wanted. Oni wanted her to honestly think before she did this. It hit her that he'd done things of the sort before, and she had not, and that it was indeed not something to be taken lightly, such as on a mere whim. As shocking as this was, Veri realized nonetheless that he truly did care for her.

"Oni, I…I'm positive. I…"

"Is that a truly honest answer? Come Veri, think before you speak. For real this time."

So her assumptions seemed at least partially correct, but, at that very moment, all that was coursing through the vulpix's mind was one step ahead of where she was right now; if she did go though with it, would he be patient and gentle? Would he be tolerant of her novice? As these thoughts raced, so did her heart.

After another piercing silence Oni asked her once again.

"Veri, are you ready…truthfully…in your head and not just your body?" His tone was firm but gentle. She knew he was anxious for an answer.

Nervous as she was, Veri felt an exotic wave of excitement and anticipation regarding the impending moments sweep over her. She got to her feet and stood, turning her head to look at Oni who also stood only a few paces behind her. The maiden vulpix took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for Oni to make the first move.

"Are you ready?" His voice was clearly filled with excitement but she also no doubt sensed a tinge of nervousness in it as well. She heard the clicking of his nails as he stepped forward. She heard him breathe in deeply as well and then the next moment she felt his put half of his weight onto her backside, just as he would have done if they were playing a game of tag, and Veri held her breath although nothing had happened just yet.

Still she kept her eyes closed, as did Oni, that is until he began his erotic crusade. She froze the instant he touched her, and when he felt her tension he eased back and threw out a casual suggestion.

"Veri, just relax. After the first minute or two you'll really enjoy it. And, Veri, your tails keep getting in the way", he said with an embarrassing grin, although Veri didn't see it. "You mind moving them?"

Inside she felt embarrassed and a bit ashamed. But then again, he was being extremely patient and gentle with her, and so she tossed away most of her remaining uncertainties by giving Oni the benefit of the doubt. Sheepishly she pulled her tails aside.

"Alright," he said again, "now just relax."

Veri did as she was told and waited. He touched her again, and much to her surprise the first step went over quite easily. Slowly Oni pushed forward, stopping only when he felt Veri needed a moment or two. And, "experienced" as he was, he still was extremely nervous. Once he relaxed he felt Veri do so and asked her how she was faring.

"I'm alright…so far, but," She paused. All of a sudden she felt her backside, mainly speaking around where she could feel Oni inside her, began to feel odd. But it was not a strange-odd type feeling. She felt waves of a strange joy and ecstasy of a type that she had never felt before. For the first time in her life, Veri felt the astounding feelings of sensuality sweep through her in waves that eventually overtook her entire body. When Oni noticed that she did not finish her words he tipped his voice with concern.

"Are you sure you're doing alright Veri? Would you like me to stop?"

The mere concept of him stopping right now, of all times, pierced her heart. Stop? Now? And while she was in the midst of an erotic state of shock that perhaps made her more satisfied than any other point in her life? Of course not.

"No, Oni. I'm fine. Honest."

He sighed. "Alright."

Several seconds after his sigh she felt him tense up again and then her feelings of an ecstatic oddity and awkwardness were taken to new heights. Veri felt a warm liquid seep into where Oni remained inside her, and then she felt both him and herself relax once again. Veri was glad, amidst all her lax feelings, that he could not see her face flush with a strange clash of utter humiliation and satisfaction al at once. Oni asked her again of her current condition and she answered with a simple "alright,"

For the next several minutes Oni simply rocked back and forth slightly, whining every now and again. And finally, apparently sensing her uncertainty relaxed and removed himself from the no longer maiden vulpix.

She was extremely hesitant to turn around. Her entire body was still in a sort of aftershock, which she wanted to both cease and amplify simultaneously and the condition of her mind, she felt, had melted. Still, Veri stood there frozen until Oni came around to where she could see him and sat down.

Finally she opened her eyes, and saw that his expression was of his trademark. Combined with her present state of mind and body, and the aura of charisma that the gray-and-black dog exuded Veri nearly fell into a trance. One that Oni, once again, had to shake her out of.

"Veri…open your eyes,"

For some strange reason, his lax of efforts to rouse her took over, and with that he got up and left the room to let her sleep alone in his bed beside the wall.

Oni searched the ship for Charlie, only to find him sitting on a barrel next to one of the crewmen. They were both holding what the dog thought he recalled being a…what was it? He could not remember the name, so instead he made his way over to them and leapt up onto another barrel that sat beside Charlie. Cautiously he craned his neck and saw that they shared a piece of paper with markings on it.

His master noticed him when he approached but did not pat him. Oni observed his master say something aloud, using a finger to point to a spot on the paper that held markings of some sort, and then repeat the action. After a moment Oni quickly realized that some of the sounds that Charlie made stayed the same as the markings went across the paper. Once Charlie had finished, he asked the man next to him to repeat what he had just done. As the man's finger slid across the page, he too, repeated the sounds that Charlie had just made. When he was through, Charlie congratulated him.

"I'm very impressed at the progress you've made. Once we get to port we can buy another book for you to practice on," He turned to Oni and put an arm around him.

"Would you like to do a little reading too?" Oni wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. Was it the marks on the page he'd been pointing to? Oni looked up at his master with curiosity. But Charlie knew that, of course he couldn't possibly understand what he'd just been doing. He patted Oni on the head once more as the other man left for below-deck

"I wonder where our little vixen friend is," he said as he looked around but did not see her. Oni knew he was searching for Veri, but pretended to not know after what she had just recently experienced. He needed something to distract Charlie from finding Veri, for the time being at least. Suddenly Oni rushed to the floor and looked around for something to make a game out of. There wasn't much to use, but eventually he came across a small piece of rope. Charlie just sat back and watched as Oni played with the rope; tossing it into the air and then pouncing on it, or shaking it violently back and forth. After a moment he too went over to Oni and grabbed one end of the rope and began to gently pull. Oni liked this game. That is, up until Charlie let go of the rope while Oni was pulling back with all his strength, which sent him toppling over onto his backside, head in a whirl. Oni shook his head and looked up at Charlie. He sat, thoughtful for a moment and then stared up into the clear sky as he spoke.

"You know Oni, we've been caring for your little friend for quite the long while now. And although I haven't been letting out much, I think that I've come up with the perfect name for her. What do you think about Riis? It's the name of a beautiful, rusty-red flower that grew in my mother's garden," He looked down at his dog.

Oni knew exactly what his master was trying to say. His name for Veri would be Riis. Oni did not quite understand why he'd chosen it, but he jumped up and down to merit his master's name of choice anyhow.

There was a long pause between them, broken only by the ripping sea wind.

"It's getting her to understand that 'Riis' refers to her…lies the challenge. How were you, when I taught you that you were Oni?" He looked down at his companion again.

The black dog just sat there, waiting for his master to answer his own question.

"Ah, yes. Hah, now I remember. Even though you were young, you were definitely a tough one to train; always running off. In fact the only thing you'd ever respond to was 'Come'ere dog',"

Oni cocked his head to the side.

"Hah, oh yes. You were a devious one. But after awhile you got better. Just look at you now,"

Oni barked happily.

"Someday, I hope to have children of my own. You too, you know. One day you'll be the father of more than one. I'd consider myself to be lucky,"

He laughed out loud. "I suppose we'll both get to be fathers for the first time someday,"

Yet another long pause fell upon the two men; it seemed to Oni that his master had become increasingly thoughtful ever since Veri arrived. Thoughtful as to what, however, was the uncertainty. In an ambiguous sort of way, he wished he could ask Charlie what was always plaguing him.

Much to Oni's luck, Charlie stayed busy with matters concerning the ship and evaded the need to go into his quarters and disturb Veri, or, Riis. He had been thinking on it since he had sat and listened to Charlie talk, and he could not decide what to call her. Veri was her real name, and as far as Charlie knew she had no calling. He would continue to call her as she was, and in order to help out his master he decided to tell Veri of her new name so that she would not have trouble when Charlie used it around her. The black dog quickly got to his feet and trotted around to where the door to Charlie's quarters was. It was unlocked, as always, and he found her still lying on his small bed, although she was clearly not asleep.

"Hello there. You've been in here almost all day; how are you feeling?"

She smiled warmly, as if she had something to hide.

"Yes, I'm alright. I got a good rest, though I've only been lying awake for a little while."

He was relieved to hear this, for in the very back of his mind all day rotted the memory of her nervousness earlier that day. He desperately tried to think of something more to do for her.

"How about…we eat?" He hoped his attempt was fitting. Females he had known in the past had a strong tendency to be very indecisive. Veri, however, came off very different.

"Oh, that sounds great! What should we have? Is there anything other than fish tonight? What are the other men eating?"

Oni slapped himself mentally. Although he'd hoped his offer was fitting, he had anticipated her not being hungry, and thus had not thought about the actual food part. He quickly tried to think of something to say as to not look foolish. He thought back to his adventures around the ship that day, but could come up with nothing.

"How…about…we go for a walk and see?" Stupid.

"That sounds like a great idea! I could use a good stretch anyway. Let's go!"

**A/N:** More apologies, just like I said– the descriptions are probably way off…but that's how I thought the best way to portray Veri's take on her experience. For me, its not hard to forget that they are all only animals, and wouldn't see such things in the light humans tend to.

Enough ranting…Its about time Charlie got off his lazy bum and find a name for her…three weeks is a long time for something like that. I guess…it could've been something along the lines of, "Oh my God…a puppy! hugs I think I'll call you Muffins!" Hah.

In terms of realistic conversation, I'm pretty happy with the way Charlie was talking towards the end. He seemed almost like, someone I knew at one point…creepy.

Last thoughts: I've got a hair more to write before I can post three of four chapters, hopefully in order to kick-start my summer writing…writing.

Thanks to all of you who put up with my perfectionist-procrastination and for hanging in there. I can be very lazy.

Happy Trails!

(Make happy campers)


	17. Parenting 101

Three months and counting-- Yay for being lazy.  
I know this chapter is really short, but I needed a filler and a transition after last chapter's...events. But to make up for the length, or lack thereof, of this entry all I have to do is edit the next two or three chapters for final changes and I should have them up within the next week.  
Well, here it is, and you can wallow in my lack or creativity for the next few days. : (

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Seventeen

Parenting 101

Runt sighed a deep sigh; the kind of sigh very old men breathe when they think of their past. Veri watched his eye as it stared off into the distance of the floorboards. His single eye seemed to dance with more life than any pair of eyes ever could. The long silence that sat between them threw Veri's mind back to a time when things were even simpler than these days– a vast, never-ending field and a few friends. As good as life was now, she strangely yearned for the days of her youth. Suddenly her journeying thoughts went sailing back to the present when she realized that Runt was staring at her.

"Mind wandering again?" he quizzically asked the vulpix.

"Me? Oh! Forgive me. I've apparently been known to do that often."

The mangy bird chuckled to himself. "Once and always, heh"

Another short silence befell them as thy both stared at the sunset.

"Runt, if you do not mind my asking, just how many years have you?"

He looked at her with curiosity at her reasoning.

"Well," he said with yet another sigh. " After awhile…I lost count I suppose. But…if you would really like to know," He muttered to himself, staring up at the dimming sky. "I'd say I'm probably close to twenty-four winters. I'm not an old bird, but I've certainly had my day."

Veri's inquiries continued on.

"Do you…have any family?"

Runt could tell by her uneasy tone that she wasn't sure if her question was appropriate. He reassured her however. "My family, well, my father, passed on just after I left the nest and my mother…"

"You don't have to–" He continued talking to himself.

"–she fell prey to Man. As far as my children go, I have too many to count. Birds like myself, we… we find new mates every other spring. Let me think…there was Ive, and Mia, and Tor…Toli, and that one from that stormy year who insisted on building the nest on a splitpine bush…Well, altogether I've had perhaps eight or nine mates and they each laid three eggs, o, perhaps…nearly thirty children in the least. And, you know something," His voice slowed and he turned to look at Veri straight in her amber-cerulean eyes, his eye dancing more vividly than ever, "you remind me an awful lot of my favorite daughter out of all my children. I remember her the most clearly– she was last to hatch; and for that I named her Uaio. Wai-oh She was the most beautiful of our kind I have ever seen, just like her mother. Her mind wandered often as yours does and she had a strange curiosity for all things that grow. I remember she would marvel around the nest at the blossoms that bloomed as she did and grew ever so fascinated at the tree we lived in.

"Her brown eyes glowed like the morning suns that we would watch together each dawn, which is why I love watching them so to this day. She stayed with my wife at the time and I for many moons after her siblings had grown and left, until one day, she met a young male and they flew off together. That was almost fifteen winters ago. Oh, how I would love to see her again."

Veri was captivated by his tale so much that all of her other questions– his missing eye, how he met him human companion– she forgot right away. Except one, single inquiry that could not escape her draining thoughts. Slowly she muttered, "What is it like, raising children?"

He looked at her with his one eye and a mass mix of skepticism and sympathy. Runt sighed as he frequently did, and preceded to tell her his "words of wisdom" she was so urgently requesting. Her tails were thumping on the hard wooden floor before he even took a breath to speak.

"Veri, parenting isn't…it isn't something that you can just…teach. I know that may seem difficult to truly understand but, it is indeed true. All the years of raising children have really put the whole idea into perspective– Bring your offspring up as how _you_ want to shape them. I can't tell you how many scuffles I got into with some of my wives over 'the children this' and 'the children that'. Veri, when your time does come, do what you feel is best at that very moment, and don't ever go with your second thoughts about anything. If you think the hill that your children are playing on is too steep, then right away tell them not to play there anymore. Nothing but experience can teach you things such as this."

The old bird paused, and sighed as before.

"I promise you that as long as we're together, I will help you in any way that I can in the upbringing of your little ones," he bowed his head to her to ensure his promise. "Maybe even get to watch young ones grow up just one more time before my tired heart gives out."

Veri couldn't help but smile at her kindly friend. Before he looked up at her she leapt forward and gently licked him behind his beak, tails still bouncing from side to side.

As she made her way back toward her master's quarters under the sunset-crazed evening sky, the young vixen's mind ran through new and exciting ideas of what it was like to be a mother. First she thought about providing food. If she was living on her own she would have to go out every day and search for something with which to feed her children. Now, she was living with someone who would be sure that she always was fed, and that it would be safe to assume that her offspring would be cared for the same. And then there was teaching them everything else they needed to know–how to speak, rules, manners, and staying safe when she wasn't around to watch them. Then the overwhelming dread came over her; the sudden doubt of _What if I fail?_ So many things could go wrong. Her precious young could fall victim to disease; they could become prey for another if her back was turned; food could be scarce one season. Already her head filled with countless possibilities of her possible maternal failure. Oni could just as easily leave her to do it all on her own. Charlie had said that the reason for their creation was to spread her kind; what if he gave them off to other humans who would not give them back? Then how would she trust her master? Veri's raging comet of negativity came to an explosive crash at the command of a familiar voice.

"Veri?" He came around to where he could see her face. "Ahh, lost in that ocean of worry again I see,"

She shook her head violently to awaken herself.

"Oni…"

"This mothering concept has got you in a bind, hasn't it?"

"Actually, it has," she answered sheepishly.

"Well, don't fret too much." He flashed her a smile. "Charlie says that it'll take at least two full turnings of the moon before you're even near ready to birth– if it worked at all that is,"

"That's quite a relief," she said, a mountain of pain slipping off of her mind.

"But there is good news," he stated proudly. "We're nearing land,"


	18. Not Quite What I Imagined

A/N: Two words.

Forgive me, for I know not the breadth of my procrastination and computer down-time.

Well, that was fourteen.

Here is the first part of many.

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Eighteen

Not Quite What I Imagined

The fear of the unknowns of giving birth attacked the vulpix in her subconscious every now and again, although it did not keep her down much. Early one morning, not two weeks after the visit of Ferra, she sat herself down on the bow of the ship, on a section of wood where the railing widened out. The wind was not strong that day, and because of this Veri could easily perch herself atop the rails without being swept off. She hadn't seen Runt or Oni much that day; the dog was probably down in the bottom of the ship making sure that no pests raided the crew's food supply. The peaceful monotony was interrupted as she spotted Runt frantically flying toward the ship. He was coming from the direction that Veri was facing and he swooped over her and towards the ship's rear. She twisted her head around and saw that he had landed on the spiky ring in front of Captain Charlie, all the while making a ruckus. He squawked and waved his wings in his riot, trying to get the Captain's attention. As soon as Charlie's attention was captured by the bird he quickly made his way from the stern to the wall of his quarters to where a rusty bell hung that Veri had not noticed before, ringing it several times. Within a moment every man on the ship had gathered around him, and Veri leapt down from the rail, bounding over to the group of men. She did not find Oni among the assembly at first, but then found him sitting neatly beside his master's legs. He cast her his charismatic look from across the circle.

"Men, I know that there is much to be done, so I will be short. Runt has enlightened me with the fact that our port is near. We should be able to see it on the horizon in a matter of hours and because we will be taking on a larger load this time, a bit extra work will have to be done in order to make preparations. So if you can spare some free time, I would like you to clear as much space as possible down below," Charlie spoke with a hint of anticipation in his voice. Veri was not exactly sure what was going on, so once the majority of the men had dispersed she trotted over and asked Oni what his master had just told everyone.

"The next port, or well, the first for you, is coming up. The ship is nearing land,"

Veri suddenly grew very excited. She had not been on solid ground in weeks.

"Really? How long did he say it would be before we reached there?"

Oni sighed lightly. "Well, it should only be a little while according to what Runt told me. Probably by sunset we should be nearing the shore."

Veri bounced up and down in a flippant manner. She was truly excited to hear of land. During her stay with Oni and his master she hadn't thought much about the terrain that held everything to the earth. It was a genuine joy for her to hear talk of this. The next instant she turned and darted back to the front of the boat where she had been sitting for much of the day and eagerly looked over the top. She anxiously ran her gaze over the open water in hopes that the time between now and sunset would somehow go faster. When Oni approached her from behind she returned to her senses, shaking her head.

"Looking for shore?" he said with an antagonistic appeal.

"Yes, I am, I…suppose," Veri said as she sat herself down, wide-eyed, to recall her actions just a moment ago. Had she really missed the land that much? Of course she hadn't thought about it much lately, and it was then that she realized that it had affected her without her even noticing it, and that this was the pattern for many life changes that snuck up as she grew. Veri shook her head in slight disgust, and then righted herself once more.

"So where are we going, exactly?" She didn't realize it, but in truth the vixen imagined that the entire world was like her home growing up, with the open, untouched spaces and the bushy forests.

Oni joined her up on the railing. "I don't know exactly what it looks like, mainly because we don't stay in one place very long, but all I'll tell you is that you're going to have the time of your life. With all of the places that I've been to so far in my lifetime, I've come to realize that there's so much more than this little boat I've lived it all on. The long, dreary trips in between ports make the fun once we actually get there more than worth it."

Veri contemplated this for a moment, and then raised another question.

"Oni, you told me a while ago that Mister Charlie has been to many places; that he's well traveled. I at least think I understand what you mean by the way he directs everyone around, and by the way he knew how to make me create that fire that first day, but other then that, what does it mean?"

He sighed again. "My master has been to many more places than I have, and he was brought up in many different respects, so, he's ready for almost anything, I suppose you could say."

"I suppose…but how could you know his life growing up, if you weren't there to see it all?"

"Well Veri, I know that you seem to have a hard time understanding these humans talk, as do I for some people I've met," He shuddered at some hidden thought. "But being with Charlie and as close to him as I am for the time that I have has helped me a great deal in understanding him. Now, in answer to your question," His voice still held a sort of fond quality. "I know much about where he came from by the nights when I was younger when he used to just sit in a chair in his room with me on his lap and just talk. It would be pitch dark outside, with only a candle in the room, and he'd just talk, knowing that I couldn't understand what he was saying. But I did, quite a bit actually, and I learned every day.

"He told me this: 'My father was a respected man Oni. I wish you could have seen him; he was a much better man than I and he loved everyone loyal to him. The farm he raised us on, and then the fire– Well sure, I was upset then, I was only a boy. But now I realize that it made me stronger. After that my father's closest friend took me in; he was a fisherman. We spent many years after that going around to different places to sell the latest catch. It all makes me feel like a well rounded man, I could say.' And then a tiny smile would fall across his face, and I just felt that at that moment he thought he was the happiest man alive."

Oni was silent for a moment, but Veri was hooked and wanted to know more.

"But what about you- I mean, how did you come to know him?"

"Me? I was born in a place far away from here, in a place where many men lived and called their home Old Slateport. My parents lived with a man that was also well known where we lived, and he had much land that held many things that were of great importance to him. My father and mother, they were among the most cherished of their master's belongings. The man had many others like my parents on his estate, and they were all kept in a long row of rooms behind the main house. That was where I was born.

"When I had just passed my second moon, he took each of my brothers and sisters into town with him, where we were each taken away by people whom we did not know. It was then when I met Charlie. From that day on, and it has been a good three winters since then, we've been to distant lands and wonderful places, and I've loved every moment of it."

Veri was intrigued by Oni's past. He sounded as though he was raised with much prestige and had much to boast of.

"What did your parents look like, just out of curiosity?"

He didn't seem to mind such arbitrary inquiry. "My mother and father looked similar to myself. They were, well, much taller and the fur along their back was much longer and a glossy black that their master kept well combed. They both had the same color of eyes, but I remember my mother's the best; her beautiful red eyes have intrigued me ever since I was born. They were both very striking in appearance as well as personality,"

Suddenly an image of the one man with the dogs and the shed plunged into her mind. She remembered the hunting trip and the utter ferociousness of the one that had followed her every move. They had looked exactly as Oni's description of his parents. Those beasts couldn't possibly have been his parents however; for he had said that they had been raised under prosperous conditions and that had been the exact opposite of what Veri had seen. Those beasts had been coached to be savage from their master. Veri realized now that it was not only humans who had the ability to be very different from each other- the lesser creatures could be very different from one another as well. It was all determined on a factor of the manner in which they were nurtured. Veri's thoughts traveled quickly to the brood of young that she would have someday; she made it appoint to bring them up with pride and love, just as she had been.

Veri had been quiet for a long moment, so Oni gave a little bark in attempt to arouse her. Veri shook her head rapidly to regain reality as she quite often did and gave a sheepish smile to the wolfdog.

He was silent for a moment too, and then spoke in an exceptionally relaxed tone.

"You know Veri; you never really told me where you came from, with all this talk of our pasts and such,"

"I don't really prefer to talk about it; it's so scattered and confusing. I don't even want to try and explain."

She hung her head low but looked over at him, noticing his disappointment. He accepted her answer nonetheless.

"I understand Veri. Well, in a way. If you'd ever like to tell me you're welcome to." His smile grew warm as he often let out, which made a tiny smile come to Veri's muzzle as well. For quite awhile the two just sat on the rail, staring into the approaching sunset, leaning on one another. Several hours passed and Veri had drifted into a light sleep. Oni was trying to prevent himself from dozing off when he spied something peculiar on the horizon to the right. After a moment it got closer. His thoughts were so on Veri that it took him another moment to realize that it was the land that they were approaching. He turned back to Veri and slowly nudged her.

"Veri, Veri…" he whispered. "Veri, the shore is approaching…wake up…"

She drowsily opened her eyes but when he mentioned the shore she grew wide-awake.

"Really? Where?" She looked around anxiously as she had done before.

"Over there on the horizon. See it?"

"Yes, yes I see it! There!" Veri leapt off the railing and around to where the spiky ring sat. Veri had recently learned that that was what controlled what direction they went. This was not on Veri's mind at the moment though, for she was trying to find Charlie. He was not at the wheel where Veri usually found him, but she found him sitting quietly in his quarters on his bed. He greeted her with open arms but did not say anything. Veri leapt into his lap and licked his face, bouncing up and down with excitement. Oni followed her into the room and sat plainly at his master's feet with nothing about his expression except his charismatic smile.

Veri accepted the embrace from her master but afterwards leapt back onto the floor and sprang towards the door and then back at Charlie. With a satisfied sigh he rose to his feet and strode out after her. When he saw the land on the horizon he smiled again and bent down to pick Veri up, stroking her head and looking back out to the horizon.

"Good girl," he said quietly to her. "But why the enthusiasm?"

Veri looked up at him, her tongue hanging limply from the side of her mouth in a blissful pant; eyes alight with excitement and wonder. He gently moved her up and down in his arms.

"You'll be getting heavier soon. It'll be awhile before your time, though."

The port was nothing compared to what Veri had imagined.

Charlie brought the ship into the port, but did not go all of the way in to where a long row of planks stretched out into the water. Instead he had the two smaller boats lowered from the side of the ship. The men from the ship were running every which way around the deck and loading things into the small boats down in the water below. Veri looked up and saw seabirds flying effortlessly above her, cawing and the like. Lunan had said…had said that they were called 'wingull'?

Lunan! Veri had thought nothing of him in weeks. She could only hope that he was alright.

She heard Charlie calling to her near the edge of the ship where things were being loaded off. He already had called Oni into the boat, and scooped Veri up onto his shoulder as he climbed down the rope and next to Oni in the tiny ferry that was loaded with barrels and small crates. Two of the men from the ship began to push and pull long poles that rested from the side of the boat and into the water and slowly, they began to move.

Once they had reached the long row of boards, Veri leapt onto it from Charlie's arms and watched as Oni exited, and then the three men begin to lift out the contents of the boat onto a cart drawn by a strange brown creature with an arched back, three whip-like tails, and two curved bones protruding from the sides of its head.A few minutes later Charlie lifted his two canines into the back of the wagon and got into the front of it, where a strange man Veri had not noticed before was already seated. They drove it off of the row of boards and onto the street. Here was where Veri got a good look at what had astounded her from even far away.

The first thing she noticed was when she peered over the side of the wagon she noticed that the streets were made of cleverly placed stones, each placed accordingly in order to make a flat surface. Veri looked up and then saw an enormous crowd of people, more than she had ever seen in one place ever before. Some were carrying crates, others leading animals that Veri had never seen before, others were standing still in front of a cart that held a pile of food. She looked back onto the harbor and saw that two more enormous ships were stationed in the outer waters. Oni took notice that she was all over the back of the wagon, looking around with wide, intrigued eyes; completely amazed at what she was seeing. He could not help but continue to smile and let her figure it all out on her own, as he'd seen this countless time before. He knew she'd have questions by the mouthful later that night, so he kept himself quiet for the time being.

Veri spent the remainder of the ride marveling at what she saw around her; the enormous buildings, as high if not higher standing than some of the buildings as the town she had first seen while hunting. The bustle alone of the town astounded the vulpix. It was the exact opposite of her first home. She felt the wagon stop the and get out. It bounced on its wheels as he leapt off and called for the two in the back to follow. In front of them was a door, but he did not go in. Instead, Charlie bent down and whispered to the two canines standing patiently at his feet.

"You two can go off and have some fun," he whispered. "Just be back here around nightfall. I'm going to rest a bit in this inn" Veri looked around mindlessly as he spoke, and noticed that, above the door, hung a strange object that appeared to be the shape of an animal, but she was not sure. It appeared to be a wailmer… Charlie righted his posture and waved a bit as Oni took off down the road that led into the thin part of the forest, Veri following not far behind.

Veri did not understand why Oni was running away. She wanted to stay with Charlie and be near him. Veri called out to him way in front of her. When he heard her calling he slowed down and stopped to meet her.

"Oni," Veri could barely keep her breath. "Oni, wh- what are we doing? Why did he send us away?"

Oni appeared excited by the way he was bouncing on his forelegs.

"Oh don't worry. He knows that we need a break from the ship and everything, especially you. He lets me go off on my own almost every time we stop, as long as I return before sunset, that is,"

She was relieved. "Oh, alright. I'm sorry. I was just…just worried for a second. So where are we going?"

"This whole port's new to me, as I've never been to this one before. But it's beautiful isn't it? The tropical trees, the warm beach, and the people here are wonderful. We'll be sure to be well fed these next few days," His eager smile grew even bigger.

The trees…Veri hadn't noticed the trees. They were, different…Instead of thick trunks and huge, bushy tops these trees were tall and thin, with pole-like trunks and branches that fanned out like a flower. Some smaller trees and bushes grew beautiful flowers of the brightest colors. The whole town smelled wonderful from the blossoms alone. Veri was amazed- again.

"Yes it is, it's wonderful. I never could have dreamed of a place like this ,"

"I love it. But come on, why are we just standing here talking about it when there's so much that we could see?" Oni took off down the trail again, Veri galloping eagerly behind.

They did not run for long, for another road branched off of the main one that they were traveling along. A small sign hung from a pole near the start of the road. On it was written something that neither Veri nor Oni could make out, but Oni smelled something in the air. He raised his head high as he took in some strong scent, crimson nostrils quivering with every huge breath. Veri faintly smelled something too; something strange but something familiar. Oni pricked his ears forward and gestured with his head for Veri to follow him down the branching path.

This side road was quite wide, most likely frequently traveled by the fresh wheel tracks from a wagon. The path was long, but eventually they came to the end and saw what it led to. A wide, open space cut from the woodland held two big buildings that looked much like the home of the cruel man with the dogs. Oni looked back at Veri, his large, appealing grin in place, and continued forward, this time in an even, eager stride.

"Oni, where are we?"

"This, my dear Veri, is a ranch, farm…thing…Well anyhow, its where people live and take care of creatures like us that they own. These can be a real hoot if you know where to look. Come on, let's go. I'll show you around,"

"We shouldn't be– oh well. Whatever you say Oni." With that she followed him farther in. Before they advanced however Oni looked around cautiously.

"Don't want any guards knowin' that we're here do we?" Things seemed to be strangely quiet. "Ahh, the old farmer must be out in town with the missus and their dawg. How sweet…Okay Veri, 'sall clear!"


	19. Indulge the Day

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 19

Indulge the Day

They first came to the closest building from the road. Veri simply tagged along wherever Oni went as he ventured around to the side, seeming to be looking for something. Before Veri had a chance to ask what it was he'd already found it with an "Ah, there we go," and crouched low. He jumped up and on the first try clicked open a small black latch that rested on the wall. A second later the huge door creaked open with a screech. Once it had swung open about halfway, he grinned Veri's way again and trotted happily inside.

She hesitated.

"Come on you lazy bum. Get in here!"

Veri slowly went inside. It was darker than outside, but enough sunlight filtered in through the openings in the top of the room so that she could see most of what was inside. Crates and stacks of old wood were everywhere as if they had been strategically placed in order to look messy. The floor was covered with a layer of dried grass, and a platform perched atop the high ceiling held more grass. Veri heard some rustling and hastily looked back at Oni. He was crouched, ready to pounce at something. Almost directly in front of him was a two-layer rack that held nearly a dozen sleeping birds. Veri realized what he was doing only after he jumped up in a barking frenzy, sending each bird scattering in a different direction. When they plopped themselves in a group on the floor, he turned around and sent them flying again. After a moment Veri joined in, yapping away as the brown foul fled around the room. Grass went flying everywhere, and then Oni stopped, laughing out loud.

"Wow that was great. But I just realized; these people must not own enough to own the orange kind that can also be found in these types of places. But I've noticed that farmers who raise that kind seem to have a heck of a lot more land and animals, not to mention a hell of a nicer house. But enough of that gab. Let's go find the sheep!" He dashed away before Veri could respond and she followed him.

Not too far from the barn was a large pen that held hundreds of odd-looking creatures. Some were rosy pink in color; others were a faded white-cream. They all had long, tapering tails that had strange balls on the end, and every body was covered in a huge ball of fluff. As they neared the pen Veri felt her fur stand up straight. She looked at Oni. He really seemed to know what he was doing. The area on his back where his fur grew extra long was standing nearly on end, which didn't seem to bother him in the least. Without another thought she followed him under the fence.

Strangely though, he did not simply begin running after them. He just stood there for a moment, as if surveying the field, and then began to emit low barking noises. Several members of the herd flickered an ear and lifted their heads to look at him. This seemed to be the signal he was waiting for. Oni then began to slowly approach the nearest one to him, which grew uneasy nearly the instant it spotted Oni coming. Oni stopped, and so did the apprehensive creature, standing still as stone, wide-eyed. It was when Oni took one more step forward that the sheep reared up on its hind legs, nostrils flaring, and bolted away in an instant. This aroused the others, which sent the entire herd stampeding around the field that led from the pen. Oni laughed in success and called to Veri to follow him after the raging flock.

As they chased the crowd of sheep the ground rumbled under their feet and the only other sound that could be heard besides the high-pitched calls and the thundering of the herd was a howl of joy from Oni. Upon hearing that, Veri decided that Oni knew all too well what he was doing; that there was nothing to worry about. They finished up the rally after several minutes and the black canine slowed himself down along the fence line. He collapsed beside Veri in large, panting breaths. From her place where she lay sprawled out on the ground, Veri could see the flock slowing and coming to a gradual halt on the far side of the pasture. She hadn't had any

fun– dangerous fun– like that in too long of a time. She lazily flopped her head the other way to face Oni.

"Whew," Heavy pants and huffs chopped up his sentences. "Pretty, huff, amazing huh? Huff,"

Veri's voice was not much different. "Yeah, huff, it was, huff. I haven't huff, had danger-huff, -ous fun in a long time,"

Not much more was spoken in the few minutes afterwards in which they caught their breath. Once he had revived himself Oni jumped up, ready for more.

"Okay Veri, what next? You pick something to do?"

She wasn't quite sure what to say. As not to look foolish, her eyes darted around the farmyard, looking for something that would be of quick interest to her comrade. Not much else was to be seen, really, but that was when she spotted a pair of cows tied to a post near the house. They appeared half asleep, lazily chewing on something.

"What about those two?" Veri asked, hoping that it was something that could be made into a quick amusement.

He saw them right away. "Oh! I didn't even see those two when we came in! There's a real delicacy there, all tied up and ready for the takin',"

"Really? I grew up living with a few of those creatures. What is so special about them? Well, besides a lousy sense of humor that is,"

His voice flooded with awe. "Ohh, you mean you lived with a pair of these bovines and you've never tasted their milk? You're in for a real treat. Come on Veri, I'll show you." Oni squeezed under the fence and bounded across the yard, Veri eagerly following in close tread. They stopped side by side just in front of the two idle steers.

They were noticed, but no ruckus came about. Oni already had his delicate process in motion.

"Okay Veri," he whispered. "Stand here and make sure their eyes stay on you. I'll be right back."

"Umm, okay?" Veri knew of his confidence but was still skeptical of his plans. She mindlessly sat as instructed in front of the cattle, staring up at them and swishing a tail every few seconds. Without looking directly at him, she could see him through the row of pink legs slink under and swipe a drink from a bulging pouch on the underside of one of the miltank. She saw that its eyes grew wide for the split-second that Oni made contact, but it did nothing more, much to her surprise. Not a very lively pair apparently.

Several minutes went by and he finished indulging himself, returning to Veri's side with a face covered in splattered milk.

"Enjoy?" Veri laughed in her words. For a supposedly sophisticated creature he sure did have his fair share of slipshod.

"Why yes, ma'am I did. Thank you very much," He mockingly bowed down on his forelegs. Veri laughed again.

"I suppose it's my turn then," She rose to her feet and trotted around to the backside of the other cow. She was very young when she last saw a creature like this, but had never seen the underside of one. The bulging pouch smelled quite delicious. Veri licked her chops and lightly placed her jaws around it. The milk came out considerably easy, and when it did, Veri felt that it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. She couldn't get enough of the sweet milk. More than ten minutes had gone by and Oni had to push her out of the way to get her to stop. Veri plopped on her haunches a few steps away, shaking her head.

"Wow, sorry Oni," She smiled sheepishly. "I don't know what came over me. Its just so good,"

"I understand. Happens to everybody the first time. Why, my very first drink tasted so good, it took me nearly an hour to satisfy the craving. Its alright." He reassured her with his charismatic smile.

"Well, now what?"

"Hmm," Oni gazed around. "How about we go in there?" He gestured to the farmhouse.

"Oh, Oni, I don't know. The people live there, don't they?"

"Pft, relax. You said you trusted me right? The twits are all in town. They were even nice enough to take their guard dog with them. Let's just go have a look around for a little while. Then we can take a nap and then go back and meet Charlie."

"Oh, alright then. Let's go," For a moment she felt that she gave in too easily.

"Glad you decided to oblige," He got to his feet from where he'd sat and trotted over to the house. He tried to push on the door but it wouldn't move. This didn't hinder him of course; no, not Oni, and he looked around until he found a window propped open with a stick next to the door. Below it were several overflowing trashcans.

He leapt onto one of them and put his paws on the windowsill. It only took him a second of struggling before he squeezed inside and a whispering, "Hey come on in," could be heard. Veri did the same but had less trouble squeezing inside. She landed on a splintered wooden countertop. She saw Oni waiting on the floor just below her, leaping down and looking around the room again. Not much else was to be seen except a large gray tub of some sort that was piled high in wet cloth. Almost everything had a gracious layer of dust blanketed over top of it, and the dirty windows made the room somewhat dark and musty.

"People actually live here?" Veri was quite surprised that anyone could live their everyday lives in a place this poorly kept. Oni's tail swayed lightly back and forth at her question, which stirred up some dust on a box, making Veri sneeze.

"Of course people live here. Not everybody gets the life of luxury like we do. Although they could fix this place up a bit, as in get rid of all this dust," Oni looked away and began trotting down a short hallway that led from the first room. He looked in the door to the left; Veri took a peek in the door to the right- both of them were fairly small with something that took up the majority of the space. Oni called Veri to come into the room on his side. In the center of the room was a large bed, about the same size as the one that Charlie slept in back on the ship. They jumped up on top of it and nearly sank in over their backs. The covering on this bed was stuffed with wool, and because of that it would implode at the slightest touch. Oni was simply amazed.

"Wow! This is awesome! It smells of…wool, like the beasts outside," He flopped back over onto his back and into a relaxed position. Veri curled up beside him. "Here is where I think we can take that nap,"

Before Veri could say anything Oni was fast asleep.

The call of a strange bird outside awoke the vulpix from her light doze on the downy bed. Oni was snoring, and in the exact same position he had fallen asleep in. Veri yawned and stretched her forelegs, looking out the tiny window in the room. The sky had already gotten dark and the moon was on the rise. Then she suddenly remembered what he had said about Charlie's words. They were to be back before nightfall. Hastily she shook the canine beside her in a frantic attempt to rouse him. He drowsily opened his eyes and sat up, wondering what the commotion was.

"Oni, its past sunset, we should be heading back," She twitched an ear in the direction of the road, hearing a wagon pull up and the groaning call of a cow. She shook him even harder. "Oni! The people are back! We need to move, now, or we're going to get caught."

This took several seconds to sink in, but when it did he was up and alert.

"Oh dammit, I should have slept outside. Come on, we've got to get out of here,"

He leapt off the bed and scrambled down the hallway. Veri bounded after him as he ran into the room with the pile of wet cloth. He hopped up on an overturned pale placed next to the counter and up towards the window. In his leap however he knocked the bucket over onto its side. Veri cringed as it clattered on the hard floor and looked up at Oni.

"What do I do now?" she cried in a half whispering tone.

"Um, I don't know, try scaling the countertop."

Veri was not sure if she could actually jump that high but did not want to get caught. She took a few steps back and a deep breath before running towards the cupboard. She took a leap as high as she could but missed and fell to the floor. Oni saw her mishap and looked at the door that was being unlocked and scrambled out the window. Veri was now the only one in the dark house. Terrified, she crouched under a table that had a long cloth draped over its top that hung low to the ground and hid most of her from view. She held her breath as the door creaked open and an old man and woman stepped slowly inside. She was about to make a break for the door when it closed tight behind the woman with another loud creak. She looked around for another way out.

The two people did not see her. In fact, they were not aware that anyone else had ever even been in their home. Finally Veri spied a chair sitting by the far wall next to a small hole in the wall with nothing covering it but a ragged old sheet nailed over the top. That seemed convenient…

Taking a deep breath she dove forward and made a mad dash for the wall. In her hurry she nearly tripped the old man who was crossing the room, who yelled something when he saw her. Veri hurdled onto the chair and out the hole in the wall. She heard the woman scream from inside. Veri galloped around to the front of the house where Oni was crouched behind a post.

"Head for the road!" she cried out as they raced for the dusty road that led back to town. More barking could be heard perusing them from back at the house. The pair did not stop until they could see the town down the road. Once they had passed up the bordering houses where the town began, Oni slowed himself and looked behind them to see if they had been followed. Nothing appeared to have followed them. He turned to Veri who was now collapsed in a heap in the middle of the cobblestone street.

His voice was choppy with heavy pants as it had been after chasing the sheep earlier that day.

"That was too -huff- close,"

Veri lifted her exhausted head to answer him. "If only, -huff-, we hadn't slept so long," The instant she finished her sentence she dropped her head again.

"No, Veri it's my fault. I was caught up and didn't sleep outside. But after all that milk…"

She didn't turn to look up at him this time.

"Don't beat yourself up too much. It was one of the most exciting days I've had for as long as I can remember,"

Oni was glad he'd been able to 'impress' her, but then again he hadn't had fun like that in a long time either. He was partially relieved that it was over. For today. He grinned to himself with the idea. Tomorrow, if Charlie didn't have anything for them to do he would find something else to entertain Veri with. But for now he knew they had to find Charlie. That was when it so carelessly struck him; he had disobeyed his master. There would most likely be no going out tomorrow. Oni sighed to himself and lazily dragged himself to his feet.

"Veri, we need to go now," came his monotone voice.

Now she turned to face him, although still lying on her side.

"Yes, perhaps we should be going. I apologize for taking so long. I would think for running as much as I have in my life I could run forever with ease, but I suppose not." Veri brought herself to her haunches, ears set high and eyes hopeful, for she thought just the opposite about their master's reaction to the absence. The vulpix reasoned that his love for them would subside any punishment that he had for them.

They would both find out soon enough that they were both wrong. Oni put his nose to the ground and began rapidly sniffing the stones for any scent of Charlie. He didn't have much luck however, for the street was packed to the rim with the scents of a thousand different creatures and humans that had passed by that day alone. After a moment Oni raised his head and desperately looked around. Veri simply stared at the empty, quiet street, wondering what to do.

…………….

A/N: I'd much rather not apologize for such a delay; life has done just that to me in the past six months, but here is chapter 19. Something I've realized about writing this story is that a large part of the fun is creating the learning experiences that Veri goes through. Many of Veri's deeper qualities, I've also come to notice, reflect many of my deeper qualities as well. I hope everyone is still with me here, and I hope even more that it is still enjoyable.


	20. Intoxication

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter Twenty

Intoxication

"Oni, didn't Charlie say he was going to be resting in one of these buildings?" Then she remembered the wailmer above the door, and suddenly got to her feet. She ran down the end of the street and quickly turned out of sight around the corner. "Come on!" she called as she ran. Once Oni had caught up she slowed to a walk and began to look up above the doors of the buildings that surrounded them. Eventually she found the building marked with the wailmer. Excited, she leapt up to the door and began to scratch. She was stopped short however, as a low voice called to her and made her pause and look around in the fading light. On a chair near the door, a man sat motionless. Veri paced over to the man, and instantly smelled the familiar scent. She had not even seen him. Veri excitedly leapt onto his lap as he put a hand gently on her head, and lowered the other near the ground to do the same to Oni as he slowly approached.

Charlie was quiet for a moment, and then spoke.

"Where have you two been? I've been worried sick. Now come inside." He got to his feet and pulled Veri up to his shoulder, and whistled for Oni to follow. They'd both heard his stern, yet calm voice, but each perceived it as having totally opposite intentions. Oni saw that he was being reprimanded; deprived of their usual enthusiastic welcome for their late arrival. Veri on the other hand, took his tone as that he was simply tired and had already moved on from their miniscule fault. Nothing more was spoken of it though, for once they were inside, Veri looked around a large room; one larger than she'd ever seen. Various chairs and tables were scattered around in corners and along walls, but it was dark and Veri saw little detail of the rest of her surroundings. Under a huge mantle in the corner burned an intense fire whose heat could be felt from halfway across the room.

As they followed their master deeper into the room, Veri took notice of the way the light of the flames danced off every surface; jumping then receding randomly with an abstract dexterity that only Nature herself could understand. Charlie led them to the corner of the room that was almost hidden from the light of the fire, where a figure neither Veri nor Oni had noticed before sat, until they were several steps away. Oni's hackles bristled for a moment, but Charlie blankly glanced at him from his towering height and Oni settled himself. Veri simply watched from where she was standing next to him as he took a seat and firmly shook the hand of the man seated against the wall. Neither of the canines could make out his face, and so with not much else to do, Oni settled to his stomach, forelegs stretched far out in front of him.

As Oni fell into his own arbitrary thought processes, Veri took a close listen in on the conversation the two men were having over the table above her. She tried not to appear interested, with simply an ear cocked in their direction, but somehow she felt that it did not matter to Charlie either way, for as far as she knew he was concerned she could not understand him. The two men talked considerably low for several minutes, so low in fact that Veri could not even make them out, but soon they began an audible whisper in which Veri began to intently listen in on.

"You see that huge shipment Raleigh brought in this morning?" the man opposite Charlie asked in his deep gnarled voice that reminded Veri of the sounds that the bodies of the men on the ship made when they were hungry. "They say no one 'round here knows what's in those damned crates except Raleigh himself. They're sayin' not even his own men know what's makin' those huge boxes roar and shake like the damned waves that move his damned ship."  
Charlie stared off to the side for a moment. "Isn't he that woods colt from Port Cooper that trades exotics?" The man nodded his head.  
"Yeahp, that'd be him alright. I'm surprised you don't remember him. Oh, that's right– he wasn't in town when you were here last. The last time, uhh, the last time Oni here was sick as a dog."  
"I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, actually. Or is it no pleasure at all?" The two men shared a light laugh.  
"Well, while you were up at the north end of town this afternoon I was doing some work on the docks when I saw him and his disciples load the last of them crates onto the beach. The crates aren't anything enormous, but by the way it took six men to carry one crate ashore, and another three men to steady whatever the hell was in there, I'd say that he's got something definitely worth a look-see this time. What do you say, want to go up there tomorrow and take a peek with me and some of the guys from the tavern down the street?"

Charlie did not seem very enthusiaistic about his friend's offer. "I'd rather not. Thank you for the offer anyhow."   
Suddenly the unfamiliar man paused and peered over the table and down at Veri, who looked up with large, fretful eyes. Her eyes dodged for an instant over to Oni, who had apparently fallen asleep. She could now make out much more of the other man's face, but what became clear the most was that it was a much older man, much older than Charlie; Veri could tell by the way his facial features were worn and gnarled, with many wrinkles and many random, unkempt hairs sprouting everywhere. One eye was almost nudged shut by the way his cheek pushed his baggy skin up as he smirked down at the little fox. But what turned Veri's impressions of this man away the most was when his noxious breath finally hit Veri's nostrils. It was of something extremely strong, and while it was seemingly new, she could have sworn that she'd smelled it somewhere before, and only very recently too. Then it hit her–it was the same scent that Charlie's men had smelled of after they'd come up from below deck one night several days prior. There had been much laughter and Veri had smelled food of all sorts that they had consumed that night. Oni had said later that it had been a celebration of some sort, although even he had been unsure as to exactly the reason. And now, this smell brought back the strange curiosities that she'd felt that same night about what it was that they'd been drinking.

After a moment of what had appeared to have been inspecting her, the older man reached down an also gnarled hand to pet her. She cringed at first, but he scratched right behind her head; exactly where she always liked it. Charlie must have told him. But that thought disintegrated almost as abruptly as it had come about and the next thing the vulpix knew the old man's hand was pulled away and a very large mug had been set just in front of her. The huge mug was nearly as tall as her throat when she stood and as she stretched her neck closer to examine it she realized that it smelled exactly as the man's breath had. However, when she pathetically looked up at Charlie, unsure of what to do, she saw that he was looking curiously down at her as well.

She didn't know what to do, but looking guiltily back up at Charlie (for she did not want to displease him), got to her feet and peered into the deep, reeking mug. With a deep breath, Veri plunged her face into the liquid. At first it stung her eyes, but she closed them and took a big gulp of what she was submersed in. It was clearly the most pungent thing she'd ever tasted; it tasted dry and clammy and the same time. Veri's mind drove her to take another daring gulp, and it was this second taste where she lost control. The taste was one that which Veri could not stand but wanted more at the same time, and much to her misfortune, the latter took over. In less time than it would've taken her to walk to the other side of the room and back, the tiny vulpix had downed the entire mug. From above her the old man began to whole-heartedly laugh, nearly falling out of his chair in the process before he reached down and picked up the mug.

His hearty chuckle had awoken Oni who just before Veri collapsed heard the older man say, "That damned little cur drank that whole damn thing! That there was the biggest in the house- a whole liter of our finest,"

Veri found herself nearly unable to move– had she been able to realize it, even the snakebite she'd once received had not incapacitated her this badly. She tried to open her eyes, and after a moment of struggle was fairly successful. When she found she could not make out her blurred surroundings, the vulpix tried to get on her feet. This she managed rather easily, but when she attempted to take a step forward Veri fell flat on her face. In her own mind, she could have sworn on her life that she was perfectly fine– perhaps they had gone back to the ship and she had slipped on the wet deck, but when she peered around, the hazy view only got worse. But the odd thing was however, was that despite all this oddity with her condition, she felt wonderful. Veri believed herself to be extremely and blissfully happy. And when she heard a voice, the voice's owner knew almost right away what had happened.

"Veri…? Can you hear me?"

"Runt? Is that you? Oni flew up to the top of the ship to watch the sunrise last night…"

The black dog smiled with a sympathetic adoration. He knew exactly what it was like.

"Veri, its me, Oni. You had a little…too much." Oni couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"Oni? Oh its you! I thought you were up on the-" she stopped suddenly. Inside her body rippled a sharp, burning pain, which caused her to cry out. At the sight of this Oni jumped and rushed to her side from several steps away from where he'd been sitting and keeping watch over her while Charlie had went away for a short time. Within moments the vulpix began to sweat heavily and she began panting, her chest heaving up and down uncontrollably.

Oni looked around frantically. He did not want to leave her, but he had to go find Charlie. Licking her gently on the muzzle he dashed off the table and rocketed down the long hall in which they had taken Veri down, and out into the large room with the fireplace. Oni skidded to a stop and hurriedly scanned the tables for a sign of his master, but he was not there. Not finding him, Oni took off towards the door that led to the street, but on his way out of the open door he careened straight into someone's legs who was attempting to walk through. Oni shook himself clear and looked up to see who it was– it was Charlie, and he had something bundled up in his hands. The instant he recognized his master he propped his front legs upon Charlie's knees, barking furiously and bounding towards the back hall and towards his master again. Charlie reached down a hand to the hysterical dog, but Oni growled and took off out of sight down the long hall.

Charlie seemed to get the idea and hastily made his way down the corridor. When he saw Veri's condition he dropped whatever he'd been carrying onto the floor and rushed to her side. Charlie assessed the vulpix's condition and turned to the window with a sigh. 

"It's still too late in the night to call a doctor," he said to himself, although Oni knew exactly what he was talking about. Whoever Charlie could manage to bring to Veri's aid would be able to help her.

"I knew I shouldn't have let that bastard let her drink all that, but I didn't think she would. Dammit!" Oni flinched as Charlie slammed a fist down on the table on which Veri was lying. He watched as his master put a hand on his forehead in frustration. Once he had regained himself, Charlie paced over to a basin near the far wall and dipped a smaller container into it, letting it fill with cool water. He set the jar near Veri, and gently set a small cloth into it. Afterwards, Oni observed him do something to the cloth so that water fell out of it and gently he laid it along the back of Veri's neck. With that finished, Charlie swiftly made his way out of the small room. 

Curious as he was, Oni silently slinked off the bed and out into the hall, where he peered around the corner just in time to see Charlie disappear into a room not much farther down. But before he could make it inside, the door slammed shut in front of him. Patiently, he waited outside and pressed his ear against the thin wooden entryway. Things were silent inside until he heard a sudden outburst from one of the men inside. It was Charlie.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled. "You know too damn well that that stuff can catch fire, and yet you give a goddamn liter to that poor little thing. I come back after ten godforsaken minutes to find my dog with an uncontrollable temperature. If I hadn't come back when I did, she most likely would've died." Oni heard another man in the room start to speak, but Charlie wouldn't let him. "I believe I told you before–there hasn't been a sighting of her kind for nearly sixty years," Oni heard a loud pop followed by a heavy thud and then heard footsteps nearing the door. Frantically he turned around and dashed back to the room where Veri was lying. He hopped back onto the bed where he'd been, and tried to look relaxed.

Charlie came into the room surprisingly calm. He gently picked Veri up and walked over to the bed, sitting beside Oni and resting the vulpix in his lap. Oni expected his master to be harsh, but much to his surprise, he looked up to find that the eyes of his master were filled with water.

"It's my fault," he said softly to himself. Oni, trying to be as understanding as he could, moved as close to Charlie as possible and rested his head upon his master's thigh, whimpering softly. He shifted his red-eyed gaze to Veri, whose heavy breathing had subsided a great deal, but he could still feel that she was very warm. Charlie continued to speak softly to himself.

"I knew all too well that the damned stuff wasn't good for the little thing, especially because of well, her fire, but…then again, I didn't really think she'd like the stuff either,"

Oni did not know why his dear friend had fallen ill, but he did know that it was troubling his master a great deal, and he wished so badly to tell him that she would be all right, if he even knew that for a fact at all. Oni decided that after Charlie went to bed, he would sneak over and try to speak with Veri again. In all his days with Charlie, and even after all he'd learned much about how humans spoke and behaved, he was well aware that there were many things that he still didn't know, as well as things that he may never know. It was a strange feeling; wanting to learn but at the same time learning that you may not ever learn everything there ever is to know.

Charlie was silent for a long time afterwards. As Oni simply sat there, letting any thoughts just slip by, he looked toward the window, and realized that the moon was still quite high in the pitch-dark sky. He knew what Veri was going through, for he'd been through it a few times himself, and because of that he knew that as long as her breathing did not worsen again, she would be fine by morning. After awhile Charlie rose to his feet and placed the panting Veri back onto the table and piles of cloth where she'd been lying before, rubbed her head several times and blew out the candle.

Once Oni was sure that Charlie would not awaken, he slowly slunk off the bed and over to the chair where he could leap up and get beside the sleeping vixen. He could not see her, but he could hear her soft, labored breaths. Gently he nudged her with his muzzle.

"Veri…?" he called out to her.

At first there was no response, but as Oni began to speak again, a tiny voice could be heard.

"Oni…"

She spoke, but her words were soft and timid, and short, labored breaths separated them. Oni turned his ears as far in her direction as they could go, for her speech was barely audible.

He was glad to hear her voice; at the very least she was speaking.

"Yes, it's me. I'm here."

"Wha- what happened to me? I can't move a muscle and…and it burns, Oni. My whole body burns,"

Oni's momentarily lifted spirits crashed down again. She was still in pain.

He did not know what to say. He did not want his words to be so dark that her already frail condition would worsen, but what positives were there to say? He tried the only form of consolation he had at the moment.

"Charlie…I am almost positive that once daybreak comes he'll find someone to heal you, although…" He paused.

"Although…what, Oni?" He cracked a tiny smile in the dark; he could not outwit her even in her current condition, but he was glad the she could not see his smirk.

"Nothing, Veri. It's nothing. Try to get back to sleep and in the morning I can promise you that you'll be all and well again, and, hah, won't remember a thing." His dark-hidden smile of amusement grew to an almost eerie grin at whatever it was that was going through his mind.

"But what if I can't get back to sleep?"

"Just try. I'll take you on a little trip tomorrow if you're well."

She heard him leap down from the table but heard nothing after that. And just as Oni had said, she fell asleep within seconds of closing her eyes.

Veri awoke to the sound of an empty room; with a bed in the corner made up as if no one had ever slept there and not a soul in the room aside from herself. The dusty sunlight radiated in through the foggy window doing nothing to the vulpix's disposition except add to the already lonesome atmosphere. The vulpix tried to get to her feet and found that she could do so with ease. She could have sworn that there was a recent time that she had not been able to stand, but it all seemed much too like a distant dream. She could have sworn that it had been real, but there was not much she could do to change the thought. The vixen stood still for another moment, and then attempted to get an even stance, noticing that her body still felt quite warm. Why did she have such a high temperature all of a sudden? Had she been like this all night? Nothing was sure in the vulpix's mind. Shaking her head in frustration, she leapt down from the table and wandered down the hallway that led to the room she would have known she had indulged in the previous night, had she remembered a moment of it.

There was no one in the large, table-and-chair-filled room, however a huge fire danced in the hearth. Finding no one there, Veri made her way out to the door that led to the street and the porch with a row of chairs along the wall. She looked left and saw Oni sitting there, apparently waiting for her by his classic enigmatic expression.

"Ah, I see you're doing well. How are you feeling? Are you still warm?"

"I'm still a little hot, yes, but I can walk. Why? Did something happen? Why would I be warm?"

"You…ate a little too much food last night. But don't worry, it should wear off by midday," He changed his tone so that she would jump topics quickly as well. "Now let's go. I've got some place I heard about last night that I'd like to show you."

………………………………………

A/N: Here is the last of my pre-written chapters. I'm starting to get back into the flow of things with this one, so hopefully things will be a hair more frequent. I still hope I haven't lost anyone out there….


	21. Unbridled Curiosity

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 21

Unbridled Curiosity

Still feeling a bit groggy, Veri followed Oni out into the stone-paved street. He paused, looking around in the crowd for someone; most likely Charlie. The street was already bustling with the people and animals that would flood it until just after the sun sank into the sea. There was no lack of noise either, for both of them were forced to a shout in order to hear each other above the hollers, moans, and screeching of the bustle around them.

"Where are we going again Oni?" Veri backed away suddenly to avoid being trampled by a passing mass of unwary children.  
"I have something I want to go see," he yelled back. "It's along the beach though; down a ways from the harbor. Come on." Oni turned and began following the tracks of a passing cart that provided moving shelter and safe passage from the unruly masses around them.  
The two casually trotted behind the rickety, squeaking cart until it turned a corner onto a small side street. To the left lay a long stretch of rocky sand that divided the cobblestone with the foamy waters' edge.  
Oni paused once more and looked in both directions on either side of the beach. I'm almost positive that it's…this way," he mumbled. He turned to Veri and motioned for her to follow.  
They continued along the shore, passing the pier, two small fishing docks, and an old man sitting quietly by himself in the sand who cautiously eyed the passing canines. It was not long before Veri spotted what Oni was so eager to investigate. A ways down the beach sat a large wooden box, along with two men attempting to drag it down to the water. The men noticed the two canines approaching, but did not react.

Veri went around to the other side of the crude-looking crate. She sniffed it cautiously from a distance, and the scent of soil and dirt was overpowering. The scent reminded Veri both of the smell of a damp woodland after a heavy rain and of…feces? It was certainly wasn't the most pleasant smell.  
"Oni, this thing…It smells awful. What did you say was inside here again?"

He held a rather puzzled look, and sniffed the crate again. Immediately he recoiled at the stench. "I have no idea myself. I'm assum–" Veri stopped him.

"Listen," she put her left ear as close to the box as she could, Oni also doing so, and for a brief moment neither of them took a breath. Veri's eyes widened the instant she heard a noise from inside. She glanced at Oni, but did not turn her head, and instantly he grew uneasy and overanxious. From just behind the thin wooden wall something was breathing…something that inhaled huge amounts of air and made a growling sound when it breathed out. Mesmerized, both of the canines stood, frozen as they listened to the heavy breathing of the box's contents. A single moment seemed to last forever…but that moment of standing petrified was broken. Shifting and movement could be heard from the inside, and the box began to tremble ever so slightly. Startled, both canines jumped back. Neither of them knew what to do except watch. After another endless moment ears flickered toward the sound of someone approaching on the sand. Veri turned her head to see that two men were running towards them. When she looked at Oni, and then back at the crate, it suddenly began to shake back and forth. The box heaved forward and backward, swinging to the front and to the sides in such a way that they were certain that it would fall over any minute. But neither of them moved; Oni was dying to see whatever was being contained in this crate and Veri's feet were so planted in the ground that she did not move from the fear itself. As the two men reached them, the crate began roaring and emitting rumbling noises. One of them men kicked a leg out at Oni and swayed his hands, yelling, telling them to get away. Oni paused, still watching the chaotic scene with utter fascination. He looked up at the man shooing him and took off towards a grassy area a short ways down the beach. Veri followed close behind him.

From their vantage point, they could still survey the scene that seemed to get worse by the minute. They watched curiously as the two men struggled to steady the box from opposite sides, but the sand prevented them from getting a strong stance and the next instant the box fell onto its side and was shattered from the inside-out. The two men were knocked back on their feet. That was when they saw it– a creature that no one at the scene had ever seen before; it was not very tall, but stood on four legs and hung its head low to the ground. It turned to shake off splinters and pieces of wood that clung to its bulky form. This revealed an intimidating sight to the watching canines. A enormous, three-pointed, white plate sat atop its head, and plates of the same shape ran down a line along its back to form an armored spine. Its short legs also had white rings of armor, and its claws were as long as one of Veri's tails. The monster turned its head in their direction and in the plain light of midday, both of them could see its tiny, bright blue eyes that announced rage and anger at just about everything it saw. The beast growled and lunged at the man who had not run back to the town. The second man made a poor attempt to roll out into the water but the monster sounded its deep, rumbling roar and opened its toothy jaw, clamping down on the man's leg.

He screamed from his bite wound, but the scream did not last long enough to end as the beast tore off the leg and lunged at the man's head. It grunted as it surveyed its kill, and proceeded to smell the blood it had just shed. The beast threw back its head and bellowed into the air, the noise shutting out even the waves that crashed on the shore not thirty steps away. Suddenly its bellow ceased, and it turned its enraged gaze toward the two remaining spectators. Its eyes narrowed and it roared again, and then lunged in their direction.  
"Oni, run!"

The beast charged forth on it stumpy legs but sent the two canines running in opposite directions. Oni ran somewhere that Veri could not see. She looked around as the beast readied itself for another charge. The moment it came at her again she took a flying leap into the sand to the side near an outcropping of shore stones to evade the creature, but fell flat on her face. She got her bearings and looked up; this insane beast would not give up.

It's nostrils flared, its eyes widened, and the cornered Veri shook with fear. The beast charged, sending sand in every direction. Oni was nowhere to be seen, but her attention was fixed on the raging beast just moments away from sending the vulpix flying. The little fox's heart pounded while sweat poured down her trembling body and the ground shook. Then, in one tiny instant, instinct overtook her and she released a plume of flames that enveloped the single-member stampede in a thrall of grunts and painful moaning. Once hit, the beast lunged to the side and began bucking and writhing about as if blinded. More sand was kicked up and more ruckus was made as Veri, no longer sweating, simply sat and watched this now apparently helpless beast lunge and twist about. After a long moment of frustration the black and silver monster collapsed on its side near the tree line. Veri approached the fallen creature.

It was not dead– made quite clear by the fact that its chest heaved up and down like the sails on a day when the wind would start and then stop suddenly. Veri went around near its head. She kept a distance, but could see that its eyes were shut and had it not been for the motion of the chest she would have deemed it dead. Veri could not recall a time in which she herself had ever taken any creature's life, even to eat it, and so she was secretly relieved that the rampant beast that had just tried to kill her was not dead.

At this point she did not know what to do or say. Oni was still nowhere to be found, and now she was sitting alone next to this unconscious beast on the beach in the middle of the day. She looked around again, but nothing more was to be seen than the remnants of the event that had just transpired. Veri sat quietly for another moment.

"Oni?" she softly called out. When no reply arose she called for him again, but only the restless wind sweeping across the shore answered. So Veri sat, mindlessly wondering what to do or where to go next, but nothing particular came to mind. After awhile of sitting and doing nothing but listening to the wind, Veri decided to bring Charlie to this site and show him what she had done. Not that she anticipated his reaction, or even expected any at all, she felt it right to bring him here. She looked around again. Which way was the town? Veri turned and craned her neck out over the water to see if perhaps a dock jutted out over the sea, but there were none. At this point she was growing desperate, and so once more she searched about her for some sign of life.

She had to wander a little ways, but climbing over another mound of shore rocks revealed a lone sea bird, whose form resembled that of Ferra, sitting blankly on a jagged boulder. As she slowly approached, its eyes lazily followed her closer, but it did not move otherwise. The vulpix cautiously peeped up, hoping that it would understand her.   
"Excuse me," she softly called. "but I need some help, if you don't mind." she anxiously waited for a reply but the bird did nothing but stare at her. In her frantics Veri grew impatient quickly.

"Please sir, er...ma'am. I need to get to the docks by the town as quickly as possible but I don't know where to go. Might you help point me in the right direction?"  
Much to her surprise,the bird both understood and answered her.

"You mean the place where those thieves steal our fish by the thousands? I don't know why you'd ever want to go there, but it's down the shore that way." he mumbled as he gestured his head away from them.

The vulpix galloped down the beach for quite a surprising amount of time, not noticing much of what was around her, especially the thunderclouds rolling in above her head. The first flash of lightening lit up the sky as the first long dock came into view around a point in the bushes that grew along the sand. She grew even more comforted when the ships floating in the bay slipped into view. At last the town came into sight.

As she entered the town she slowed to catch her breath and in the growing raindrops she lifted her head to look about her. The town was completely empty. The darkened sky, the shaking palms, and howling wind were enough to drive everyone in the small port town indoors. Veri did not finish catching her breath. She had to find Charlie. Frantically she raced through the streets trying to find the inn with the wailmer above the door. It was right where it had always been. The vulpix's face lit up and her tails wagged as she ran for the door and propped herself up on her hind legs to scratch on the wood. It did not open nor did it budge. Anxiously she scratched again. Again, no response came. Veri scratched and whimpered and yelped at the locked door as the wind picked up but it did not budge. Dejected, Veri sank to her haunches in the pouring rain. She began to grow worried and saddened and depressed all at once. Where was Oni? Where was Charlie? Where was anyone? She sat alone in the stormy weather wondering what to do. Finally, without much thought, she took back off towards the docks.

By the time she reached the port the winds had picked up even more. Veri gazed around the bay and almost right away realized that something was off. One of the ships that had been anchored in the bay when she passed last was not there. Where was Charlie's ship, her home? Veri ran to the end of the longest dock and looked out over the raging waters for signs of her beloved master's ship. The two ships that remained in the bay rocked back and forth as the waves grew and the wind howled, threatening to knock the vulpix into the raging sea. Raindrops bit at her face as she looked over the two ships as best she could.

The ship on the left appeared deserted, but the one on the right was the sight of a frantic display of men running about the top deck, pulling ropes and closing sails in a ruckus as the ship rocked back and forth, in and out of view. It was then that a strong gust of wind sent the tiny vulpix toppling off of the dock and into the water. She went under and upon coming up paddled frantically to stay above. The saltwater stung her eyes and her tails grew heavy and dragged her down as the waves scooped and spun and tossed the tiny vulpix around. In the last short moment before a wave sent her colliding with the dock and knocking her uncopncious, her eye caught the distinguished sight of a black dog with a red nose gazing straight at her from the top of the ship's railing.

A/N: Not as long as I'd like it to be, but this is mainly due to the fact that I wrote three-quarters of this chapter while on vacation earlier this month, and I was quite happy with the results. Vacations do pay off every once in awhile. )

I'm still hoping I haven't lost anyone...


	22. “Oh, Charles, where art thou?

**Author's Notes:**

I haven't forgotten about my little Veri knocked unconscious in the middle of a raging sea storm, even in the 18 months since I last posted. In fact, I've thought about it quite a bit over that time, but there are certainly bills to pay and classes to attend. What I am going to do to attempt to move some time along is post what I have written of Chapter 22 (which has been edited numerous times over the last…seven months), and then attempt something rather experimental for me, but I have high hopes for its progress. The next chapter will be considerably long, and recount much of what has happened to Veri up to the time I choose to jump to. I want to put a hella thought into this next one, honestly I do, but I'm letting you all know (whoever is still with me), that a continuation is coming. I've finally bucked up and am going to do this, whatever it takes.

And a BIG thank you to all who are still giving me a reason to continue: I've got some big plans in mind, and we'll be speeding things up to a much more tolerable, yet still comfortable pace as suggested once I get a catch-up section finished.

-_CR_

**The Filler:--------------------------------------------------------"Chapter 22: "Oh, Charles, where art thou?"**

Her hunger woke her this time, and it occurred to the vulpix that she would have to muster what was left of her strength, plus more, in order to find something to eat. Just as before however, there was not a single living thing on the beach. Veri sighed to herself and attempted to rise to her feet. It was a struggle, but after a moment of staggering to stay erect, she got a good hold in the sand and shook herself out from head to tail, forcing the water soaked in her coat spraying in all directions. Although no longer sopping, her damp, auburn coat was matted with sand and slimy chunks of sea grass. Veri felt dirty and listless. She looked around with her unswollen eye; the endless ocean to the front and a thickening woods to the rear. Clearly there was only one way to go. It was also getting dark, and so both staying out in the open and searching for the town at night would not fair her well. Slowly she made her way into the trees.

Already the crickets were beginning their moonlight serenade that strangely made Veri feel so much at home, even though there were never any crickets on the ship. Their symphony of chirps would ring up from one direction, and then as if being conducted, another symphony would pick up from a different direction and the melody that was produced made the vulpix feel comforted despite the waning light of the day. The grasses here were tall and straight, much like the grasses along the beach but much thicker in width, and the trees here had not fronds as those around the town, but more resembled the bushy trees as in the woods before Charlie had claimed her. It was both a strange and familiar sight to behold.

Veri had been strolling long enough so that only the tip of the sun could be seen over the water, had she been on the shore, and it was then that as she walked she noticed the ground beneath her growing wet and soggy, like dirt after a heavy rain. No doubt had the rain from earlier that day saturated the ground, but as she progressed farther the soil seemed to become too moist to have been solely from the rain. The plants around her also changed as she advanced– the trees rose farther off the ground as though standing on their roots to hold themselves above the forest floor, and the bushes turned to clusters of fronds that clung to the sides of fallen trees and rotting stumps. The air also grew thick and clammy and held a closeness about it that gave Veri a chill. She winced as she smelled the putrid air of everything around her, saturated and rotting from an excess of water. Eventually the soil became so wet that without noticing she plunged headfirst into a pool of water.

She could swim, yes, but she was still tired from the day's events and forcibly paddled back to solid ground. This water was not salty and cool. It held a thickness much like the air and tasted and smelled stagnant and when Veri saw what covered her coat she cringed. The water was lined with a green slime that bubbled occasionally and when she had dragged herself out she had carried some of it out with her. She shook herself but it would not come off. Sticky, wet, and foul-smelling, Veri once again collapsed in hopelessness on a mound of dirt.

It was not long before she realized that there would be no sleep for her, not in this place. For an unknown amount of time she lie there, exhausted and awake, miserable from the day's circumstances. The birds here cawed far too loud and the insects were far too bothersome for sleep. What a wretched place. She could not imagine any creature ever wanting to live here. Apparently however, something did.

While she could only adjust her gaze, something had definitely shifted in the water around where she lay. Intently she listened, but nothing more disrupted the awry silence that filled this place. A long, blue-and-gray fish skipped in the thick mud a short distance from where she stopped. "Barbooha...barb...oah," it moaned. Suddenly it slipped into the mud with a slurping sound as the thick ground cover enveloped it.

Now where to begin the search for such a meal? The strange fish had left no traces that it had ever been there, and she imagined the effort required to retrieve it would be much more trouble than the hunger it would satiate. As Veri turned away she realized that an ordinary meal in this place would be difficult to find, considering she had no idea about her surroundings or whereabouts, leave the other inhabitants either. At this point, anything would do.

Recalling to have never intentionally killed another creature before, which in the back of her mind she questioned, she began patrolling the bank in search of something edible. Her tiny paws sloshed in the muck and reeds struck her flanks and tiny insects pestered her face and still nothing revealed itself to her in the waning light of the morning. Still she continued to look around. Birds would be too difficult to catch. There had to be something else nearby.

It was difficult to miss; a short, pink, sloth-like beast moseyed its way down the waterside and began to lazily slurp up the water. Its round muzzle was tan like the sands near the ocean, and the rest of its four legged, indolent body was bright and rosy right down to the tip of its long, tapering tail that it dragged behind it. Veri cringed at the very thought of drinking from the stale, unclean pool, but this seemed easy enough of a snag.

Clearly it did not see her, for it was alone and did not remove its gaze from the water which it was slowly lapping up. For a short second she considered slipping beneath the water so that the approach would be easier. This creature was larger than her, although not by much, and she was wary at what it might do. Quietly, she slunk around the shoreline. Veri had gotten not nine paces from her catch when she realized that with the ruckus she had made attempting to be elusive, stepping on sticks and rustling grasses, this rather idiotic seeming creature could be perused with great ease. More swiftly than before, she closed the gap between them.

The pounce was invigorating. Veri thrust herself upon the animal's nape and bit down with as much strength as she had left in her. She shook and wavered, growling as she did but, she was utterly shocked to find that the beast within her grasp was still peacefully lapping water as it had been the entire time. It appeared completely unaware that a carnivore had its teeth around the back of its neck and had made puncture wounds that dropped blood to the muddy ground. As in shock as Veri was, she just hung there for a moment, and then sent a very small flame up from her bowels and onto its thick hide. This got its attention. Instantly it raised its head and began bucking about, trying to throw Veri off from her grip. Yet she held on, and as some foreign exhilaration filled her she loosened her grip so much that she could adjust and clamp down upon the creature's throat. As she released however, its writhing threw her to the ground. Before she had a chance to shake herself she was hit with a fairly weak shot of water that seemed to come out of nowhere. Instantly her body was swept over with an odd combination of utter fatigue and nausea. For a short moment she could not move a muscle in her body, and when her momentarily blurry vision cleared she saw the creature begin to hobble away on its short stumpy legs, minding its injured upper spine. She would not let it get away. She lunged at it once more.

As expected, her prey did not anticipate her attack and with her tiny jaws she clasped its hide once more. Veri shook and she tore and now the creature noticed her for a second time and rather than bucking about it simply continued to run through the brush. Veri could tell that her progressive attempts were working though, for as it ran it traversed more slowly and clumsily. The lame creature rapidly tromped through the undergrowth, away from the pool; small leaves lashed at Veri's sides and insects clung to the matted fur around her face. Irritation began to set in, suddenly, and with the whim it brought she sent one single flow of flame out at her mount. The injured sloth fell to the forest floor, squealing with heavy, labored breaths. Veri rolled onto her feet and surveyed what she had just done. The creature was still alive, but not by much, and she could tell that it lie there in a great pain that she had inflicted on it-- her and her alone. Veri wanted to complete the task, her hunt, but delivering a final strike seemed too much to bear for the first moment she thought about it. Fortunately, the sloth took its last heaving breath before she could come to a decision.

For a moment her rationale-based personality set in and Veri felt a deep regret for what she had just done. All this beast desired was a short, safe drink at the water's edge, and she had sabotaged this simple desire. This emotional outcry within her did not last long, for her sharp hunger pains relit her natural desire to eat over any emotional battle shifting her thoughts at the moment. Veri recognized this and reluctantly suppressed the apathy for the time being so that she could eat. This almost carnal feeling she was finding more and more felt so great, so...natural, and because of it she wondered if her life with Charlie had influenced its suppression at all. Even this notion did not last more than a moment for thought, and with a sweep of satisfaction and desire she opened her tiny jaws and clamped down upon its thick hide once more.

As she continued to drag the carcass through the brush she heard a strange series of cracks that echoed up and above the trees. Her first instincts told her what she wanted to hear, but reality came through and reminded her of where she was. With all the rot and the moisture, trees fell frequently here. She stopped near one fallen giant whose roots now fanned out towards the sky, tipped on its side, even though it had been dead for many years. This seemed an ideal place to enjoy her meal in peace.


	23. Six Tails to Tell

Here we go! The 'week' took slightly longer than anticipated, but try to learn some basic syntax for SPSS with the excitement (and anticipation) of this on your mind. Anyways, I digress. I wrote this as I said I would, placing Veri at a new time somewhere in the future but do not have much go on except to either link to a memory of what has happened (the bulk of this massive chapter) or to help you infer what point I –have- jumped to and what has happened. The large line breaks should help. Enjoy! (and don't forget to tell me what you think!) ;D

-CR

Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 23

Six Tails to Tell

A strong gust passed through the yard in front of the house, ruffling her thick, yet neatly groomed fur. The pups were at play with their father near the wooden fence. Behind her, on the stoop, sat a woman holding a child, and Charlie directly behind her in the warm air that complemented the clear, blue sky.

The wise old bird's advice had yet to fail her, and his wisdom, she knew, would become more valuable as the moons passed. Since he had matured physically Veri had come to admire him even more. She remembered that day, or many days, on the open sea where he had set himself apart from everyone aboard the ship, save for his master, and lie in agony; she had heard his cries late at night. In the dim light of a single lantern, the gentle wind was broken by eerie, painful moans. His master would allow no one, not even the gentle Charlie in to the room where Runt had closed himself off and for days this continued, not a soul knowing what was taking place behind the battered wooden door. Oni had never once mentioned his friend in conversation with her; he kept to himself unusually often during this time and never displayed much enthusiasm to his master's attention. During those long, uneventful days Veri was much on her own, watching sea creatures emerge and sink below the boat, and lively azure and golden fish with a strange lighted rod on their head Charlie referred to as "the lantern fish" even played in the waves their vessel left behind. Near a close to one such day Veri was entertaining herself with a splintered fragment of wood when Charlie's closest mate came bursting out of the room shouting to catch someone's attention.

He found him leaning against a mast, smoking a pipe. Charlie looked up and gave his mate his sudden interest. Veri observed them exchange words and they both made headway to the room where Runt lay. A moment later Veri heard loud cheering and clapping and Charlie calling for her and Oni. She abandoned her toy and scrambled up to the small room, pushing through the crowd of legs of the men that had gathered in the room. On a pile of ragged blankets she saw a giant mound of mud-colored feathers. As she got closer, she did not see her friend.

Curled up and panting heavily an entirely different being lay beside its master. Its small head and long, curved neck protruded out from the mass of feathers, and atop its head sat a bright red comb. Runt's master patted the creature's head gently, but it cried out and flinched, revealing an enormous set of wings and a fan-like tail of fine brown plumes. It relaxed once more but returned to lying down and resumed its labored breathing.

"My friends, Runt has made a safematuration!" Charlie's mate announced to the gathered men and there was more cheering. The crew, including Charlie, then left the small room, leaving only Veri and Oni with the giant bird. Runt's master picked up an empty bowl from the floor beside him and motioned he would be returning shortly. Veri sat silent as Oni slowly approached the bird.

"Runt, is that you?" There was a hesitation in his voice, and she could tell he was just as nervous as she was. At first there was no reply and Oni began to speak again when there was a rustling and a low groan.

"Oni, are you there? I can't see..." The single candle barely lit the tiny, windowless room and made the bundle of feathers and ruffled blankets eerily seem one.

"Yes, I'm here. And so is Veri," The gray dog's voice was floodedwith hesitation.

There was another pause, but it spoke with a voice slow and coarse. "Ah, Veri. Come closer."

Oni shot an expectant gaze at her, who returned a confused look but slowly stepped forward.

"Veri, don't worry. It's still me, and I'm alright."

Her quaking voice held even more ill assurance than Oni's. "I...I am not bothered, but what is it?"

"Oh, this? I figured the time was coming soon, with my aching body and all, and it finally hit...in my old age too. My, how I've waited for these..."

With difficulty he managed to sit himself upright and unfold his wings. He flexed them to stretch and the two canines saw what beauty Runts transformation had created. Although his feathers desperately needed preening, the ruffled mess that was their dear friend stared blankly into space out at them. He seemed to have an air of contentedness about him.

"I wish I could see you two now, for even though its only been but a few days it feels as though I've not seen my friends in a long time. I also feel as though I've never flown a day in my life," Runt's voice trailed off as he seemed to sink deep into thought. Neither canine knew what to say because they could not relate, nor did they know, of what their friend had endured. A long silence blanketed the air.

Runt broke the silence again, and optimism returned to his words, reminding them of the Runt they always knew. "My sight will return soon, and I will be first awake to watch the sun rise and to try my new self on the morning wind. Bring me the dawn!" He ended triumphantly and laid his head upon the bed once more. "Leave me now, please. I am still very tired," Before they had a chance to react, the master returned with more water for his bird. Together Oni and Veri exited silently, and as she made her way away from the room she heard the man say quietly to himself "My shoulder's gun' be empty now,"

----

They had now tired of their play with Oni and were now curled beside their mother near the hearth that bore a blazing fire. One pup stirred, and turned on its side. Concerning her young, Veri was as afraid as she was full of sheer joy, as uncertain as she was entranced. Fear of the unknown plagues any self-conscious creature, but enduring just that had given her a blessing beyond any pleasure she had ever felt. Staring blankly into space in front of where she lay, her trek through the birthing process had been a waking nightmare as she recalled that day.

In the days before it had occurred she had never in her life felt so irritable, so uninterested, so hungry and yet bloated at the same time. More and more she felt shifting inside her. More than usual did Charlie attend to her with constant offerings of what he thought she might desire; of food, meticulous scratching, or time alone with him. Her mate, she could tell, desired both to distance himself and to show his devotion and concern, but she also knew how nervous he was because she felt it on him like the fear of a scared prey.

One morning, Veri suddenly collapsed in a heap beside her master as they went for an early stroll around the upper deck as they often did. Charlie heard the thud and looked down. Immediately he knew what was happening as the tiny vulpix's body began to quiver, to heave up and down. Charlie gently scooped her up in his arms and quickly made his way to his room, where he tore the blankets from his own bed, stuffing them into a pile on the floor. The small bed she normally slept in would not be enough, and no one had anticipated the delivery. The moment he laid Veri down her heaving ceased, Veri squealed and her eyes shut.

For several hours she lie in a fitful wait, Charlie never once leaving her side or allow them to be disturbed. He had prayed for a calm sea on the night Veri would give birth, and so far, his request had been granted. Veri felt every muscle in the lower half of her body begin to contract, and in between intervals of this she felt a cool liquid leak from her backside, which Charlie cleaned without hesitation. A while later the pain began to increase, and she tried her very best to not cry out. Then, it came. She felt it clearly now, slowly making its way through her body towards her backside. It kicked and shifted, and when it reached its exit Veri gave a great push and she felt the pup quickly slide out. Instantly her body relaxed, and she turned to see. Behind her, the newborn squirmed in the clear membrane. It was a beautiful sight to behold; the tiny pale, fragile vulpix. It had the huge head compared to body of all newborn creatures, and its skin was a beige-pale, even at its single tapering tail. Suddenly, it stopped moving, and with it, Veri's heart skipped a beat. She put her nose to it, and began to lick furiously yet as gently as she could. The clear sac broke but she continued to caress it with her tongue. A moment later, the newborn's chest began to move, and its legs kicked about. Veri examined the sight again; a long, clear and slender cord followed the pup back up inside her. It was no doubt the most peculiar feeling she had ever experienced, but it was at least not painful. Gently, as before, she placed the cord between her tiny teeth and bit so that it broke in two. Breathing fully now, the first newborn began wandering around the blanket pile looking for it's mother's underside. The suckling sensation instantly became the second most peculiar feeling in memory, but it had a strange sense of comfort to it. In its squirming about Veri noticed that this first pup was a little male.

Outside the sun was at high noon, but more than an hour had passed and Veri had just delivered the second newborn. Removing the birthing sac was much easier a second time and the little female found its first meal with little trouble. As they suckled Veri watched them with total love and adoration, two feelings very different than that she felt for her master. In her warm feelings however a seed of fear began to sprout in the new mother's mind, but it did not overtake her until several weeks later. The pups' eyes and ears were still long to be closed, but in the quiet nights they kept her awake Veri's mind wandered as it often did when she was alone. Memories of Runt's words on parenting that were once comforting was now laced with fear; what would she do when they were old enough to begin speaking? What if they feared humans? And what of the basics of right and wrong? Turning them into respectable young vulpix was the fear at which all others convened. She did not see much of Runt these days, for she longed for his wisdom and placid companionship that Oni could not provide. Oni, when not assisting their master with his duties, placed himself near the small family but at a distance, usually on the side of the room opposite them, sitting proud but relaxed, watching over them. He rarely spoke to Veri, and his disposition was clearly marked by uneasiness that could not be resolved. For some strange reason she did not overtly desire to ask Oni what specifically it was that vexed him, and after many weeks of this the whole situation seemed as if the couple was growing apart, fueled entirely by the young at her side. Even stranger however, this did not worry her much, but secretly she wished it did. Veri wanted to remain close to Oni, for she loved him dearly and wished him to be a staple of their lives. She decided to take action when the pups opened their senses if the matter was still a problem at the time.

The moon turned three full times before the pups began to show signs of growing more. Once, Charlie spoke to Linda very near to them and the hearth as she cooked and Veri noticed the female's ears flicker as the pair made noise. Several days later the female's eyes came to her, and Veri, for the first time in her life, stared into the beautiful amber eyes of her own young pup. She could still only whimper, even though Veri spoke to them often to ease them into the loud and noisy world, but when both pups' sight came to them, Veri decided it was time to name them. For three days she lay and thought on the matter, and came to two very satisfying decisions one morning. Veri had had little trouble with the name for the female; Brynn would suit her soft nature well. The name for her son was much more perplexing. In the end, it had come down to either Aiko or Phen, and Phen seemed energetic enough to suit his disposition yet close enough to his sister's name to bond them together. In passing conversation, Oni seemed pleased with her choices.

They suckled for many months after their sight came, and on occasion Charlie would sit and watch them feed, and his presence left Veri with a comforted, safe feeling she was glad to have. In the weeks after they gained their sight Charlie picked up the young that could fit in the palm of his hand, stroking them with a gentle finger, or even speaking softly to them, in effort to ease them into human contact. As always, Veri trusted him, and she wanted her pups to learn of humans from the very beginning.

Runt had also visited once during this time, and he seemed more in love with the infants than their own father was. He marveled at their beauty, and praised Veri many times over for her commitment and dedication that was so well evident by the pups' condition. Both Brynn and Phen found the size of the bird to be captivating, and as he sat beside the family the most inactive part of the pups day besides their naps came from simply watching the bird as he talked with their mother. He inquired about the delivery, and their senses coming to them, and especially about Oni. Since Runt had been away with Charlie's old mate he had not been by to visit until now and so had in turn lost contact with his long time friend. Presently, Oni was not there, and as Veri told him about the distance the gray dog had been keeping since the birth Runt seemed to grow even more disappointed. After hearing all that she had to say, Runt wished more for his dear friend.

"One thing that you must bear in mind about Oni…he has the greatest intentions with many things in life, but, for as long as I've known him, he has always had great trouble doing what he feels is the right thing whenever he is not sure. Hearing your story, I have no doubt that our friend means well, and he wishes he could be a better father to his offspring. You mustn't forget though, what happened the last time he brought a female to bear young…"

Veri's eyes grew wide as her gaze drifted away from the bird and to the corner of the room. She had indeed forgotten Oni's tale of his first encounter with a female, and how he had had to leave her behind. She imagined that it plagued him to the point that any action seemed like it might be the wrong one, in turn creating a cautious, skeptical, yet well-intentioned father.

"I'd forgotten…I wish I was able to do more," The old bird picked up the remorse in her voice.

"You, my fair friend, have enough at your feet presently. Let me find Oni and talk to him myself. I'll let him know what you're feeling and besides, I must see my old friend for old times' sake anyhow. You, my dear, take care." The enormous bird got to his feet, waddled out the open door opposite the hearth, and took flight without looking back. She would now wait for her master and his family to return home.

--------

Everyone was asleep now, but even in the middle of the night the children desired a meal. The fire had died down to all but cinders and the cauldron that hung above it simmered cool, leaving the dim room filled with the scent of a lovely meaty smell. The missus was a wonderful cook, and in the days she had come to stay with Charlie Veri's master had grown slightly thicker around the waist, and Oni could say the same. Charlie was always in a good mood when he was with her, even when the tiny child wailed away the canines' sensitive hearing. She could not say for sure, but the vulpix had a rough count of merely two summers since that day Veri had first met this woman in the dark side street. In that time Veri had observed her to be kind and gentle, quiet around all but Charlie. She was fair and kind, but unpredictable and keen in a way that caused the once ship-captain to be driven mad for her. Mad– that's what Veri was sure had been the fate of her beloved master in the weeks leading up to their first encounter together, and, as the pups suckled at her tired body, she somberly recalled those days:

The two pups were doing what they did most often since the birth; wander around on their stomachs for feeding time. They had not eaten since very early that morning. Veri turned on her side to reveal their searching tongues her milk. The male was especially hungry today- his nursing grew more fierce by the day, tugging and grabbing at his mother's glands as if every meal were his first. The female always drew her milk slow and neat, going right to sleep upon finishing. In the comfortable nursing box she and her young lay; in the corner of her master's room in the inn. The pups were over a turn of the moon old now and the small family had long been removed from the ship and into Charlie's new chambers where he stayed while conducting business in port. Presently her master was sitting at a table on the other side of the room, littered with many sheets and markings. Underneath the mess a large parchment was spread, decorated with many detailed, curving lines within a circle, and the shapes created shaded either a faded blue or earthy color. The vulpix had seen this object many times, as it was of great use to the captain. His hand was plastered to his brow, groaning to himself and created markings of his own using a feather. This scene became more and more common, for Oni had noted that his master had lingered here much longer than any place before. While her master's choice of stay was of great concern to her, the duties of a new mother were of greater concern, requiring constant and undivided attention. Receiving no visits from Runt, Oni became here sole contact with the outside world. In the quiet room Veri thought of her master's peculiar since shortly after arriving.

Upon their arrival things had been as usual; much loading and unloading, meetings with numerous, faceless men due to their rapid and short occurrences, a stay at the local inn, and they would be off again after two, maybe three days. Once four, five, six sunsets passed and were very not much ready to leave, Oni began to express some, yet not any overt, concern. Oni reported Charlie's men were seen at the docks less and less. Inside her new, smaller world of the room, Charlie was seen alone much more often, particularly at night. Seven more days passed and the only changes in this routine became how much more she saw of Oni and how much less she saw of her master in his room now not only nights, but during much of the day as well.

This changed one day during a short, yet much needed nap for the vulpix. Oni had momentarily taken the young into the room across the hall in his attempts to do what he could for his mate. Night had fallen, and Veri awoke to retrieve her young, already imagining her words of loving criticism at her mate's well-meant yet inexperienced attempts at parenting, despite the fact that his charge was both blind and deaf. She stopped short suddenly. Quick, heavy, almost clumsy footsteps could be heard nearing the door. Immediately she dove for cover under the desk with a long, draped cloth in order to escape her master whom she knew all too well that such steps meant he was angry and desired to be alone. From her hiding she felt the floorboards jostle as the door swung wildly open and two figures poured in, one tightly grasping the other. The figured remained entwined, almost struggling to stay standing. A random hand waved out from the jostling in mid air to shut the door, and as they turned Veri saw Charlie reach and only hit the door hard enough so that the latches touched but did not click shut. He paid no mind to this however, again wrapping his arms tightly around the other figure he was holding. They stumbled and turned again, and the figure moved in the candlelight enough for Veri to see that it was a female she had never seen before. The moment the door clicked a sloppy symphony of groaning rung up in the room, broken by muffled words and whispers that even with her acute hearing she could not make out. Then began the most peculiar behavior she had ever seen her master- or any human- perform before.

Their arms never unlatched, never ceased the violent caressing of the other. They stumbled passed the table, and as they did the vulpix thought she caught a faint, yet putrid smell of the liquid that had made her ill once before. The pair crash landed on the bed, sending pieces of the straw it was stuffed with flying out the sides, and the strange, almost pained, sounds increased. More struggling caused the long garment the female had been dressed in to fall to the floor into a pile of folds, followed quickly by Charlie's thick coat and the rest of his garments. For a split second, before disappearing underneath the cloth on the bed, Veri caught her master in a state of which she had seen, yet never before perceived, her beloved master in before. In the sloppiness of his movements, and apparent unwariness of his surroundings, and now his bare, naked state, his…she couldn't quite put a description on it…strength…he usually exuded was stripped along with everything else. For a snapshot in time she saw whatever it was that she admired in him gone. The pair vanished into the bed and the blankets began to jerk and shake as their noises continued. The sudden rush of confusion and new thoughts of her master overtook the little vulpix's mind, and through the door which they had not fully closed in their haste, she disappeared.

Veri had many questioning thoughts about what she had witnessed, and although she tried to not let the thoughts linger, the momentary disrobing of her image of her master proved too much for her self-control. This was most likely one of those things about humans that are simply foreign and strange, and she knew Oni knew much of their master and humans, but she could not decide whether or not to mention the sights to him. That night she did not want to return to the room to sleep in her own bed, and so she nestled around her pups and their father, who did not wake as she lie down next to them.

In the days following that strange evening Veri saw only of her master what time he spent in his room, huddled over the littered table. Over time the stacks of parchment got larger, and his frustration seemed to grow with them. He would pace the floor, or sit on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands, and he would rarely look at her. Once, he broke his silence as he was sprawled out on the hard wooden floor in a very odd way, simply staring at the ceiling. Her turned only his head to the vulpix mother and seemed to speak to her, yet right through her.

"If only you knew…it will change so much, yet what else can I do? Could they find work elsewhere? They are fine men, that they are," Veri cocked her head to the side, for she seemed to be as confused as he was. "The builders, they will finish, but, I do not like to wait, not for this," That last piece Veri made enough sense of to know that her master was normally a very patient man. Something was not right, but she could not ask him, of course.

During these times alone few other discernable words were spoken, but in a moment of sudden peace he looked up from his seat at the table, put his hand to his chin, and suddenly shifted his gaze to the vulpix nursing quietly in the corner.

"If I sell those twenty bushels, I would not receive payment until…" Veri was again not sure who exactly he was speaking to, but he was looking directly at her. His expression changed to one of pondering. For a few moments he stared curiously at Veri, apparently thinking about something, and even though he was but six of his steps from her in the room she felt as though he was really just looking through her as he had done before.

"That would make it just in time!" He shouted abruptly. "By the gods, there will be enough!" He slid the wooden chair back, stood up, and left the room almost dancing. Yet again, Veri felt distant and lost by her master. Despite her feelings, she lie in wait for him to return, but he did not come. He did not show again until the next morning when he dropped in to groom himself especially more than normal. His steps awoke Veri and she passively observed this morning routine, as she always did, putting on a new ruffled shirt and his favorite jacket, combing his hair to the best its greasy nature would allow, and grinning wide into the tiny dirty mirror hung on the wall to inspect his teeth. She lay down her head to return to sleep once he left, as usual, but much to her surprise he knelt down and patted her head, smiling.

"I haven't forgotten about you, you know. I have been busier than is probably best for me, but today is for you and I." Veri sensed his attempt at showing her he still cared for her as he always did and perked up her ears in a rush of excitement that swept away her insides. Charlie turned toward the door and let out a shrill whistle, his signal for his first friend, and Oni came bounding in barely a moment later, planting himself at his master's feet.

"I need you to stay with the little ones again for me. Riis has seemed to have forgotten that I have not been too diligent for my other love," Oni barked in response and received a warm scratch behind an ear. "Good boy. Now come on you," and he motioned to Veri as he rose to his feet. The excitement Veri felt that he had not forgotten her caused the lingering thoughts of how she had seen him to evaporate. Oni said nothing to her, but smiled as he did and positioned himself where she had been in the bed.

Veri had not been outside in several days, and so more than a breeze through the window of fresh air was a great relief. The bustling street was long filled for the day with carts, shops, animals, things to sell, and people to sell them. This was an image hardly different from any other stop they visited. Outside the inn Charlie found a scrap piece of wood and tossed it away from him. Playfully Veri ran to it and retrieved it for him. She stayed close to his heels as he made his way down the stony street.

The destination was Veri's least concern; it was the journey, the simple, ambling eagerly alongside her master was her greatest sentiment currently, laced with the excitement of feeling as though she had been found again by he who had lost her. Admiring the surroundings and the cheer in the song Charlie sang quite loudly to himself, she followed closely at his heels whichever way he went without paying much attention, and eventually he stopped at a small building at the end of a street where few people wandered about, Veri noticed, once she re-focused on where she was. Veri started to look up at her master, but instead her eye caught the shape of a carved flower hanging above the door. Just behind them stood a group of rough looking characters leaned against the other end of the alley, one smoking something thick and foul and another rubbing a mangled cloth up and down the rusted blade of a sword. Before Veri could notice any more details the door Charlie was facing opened just slightly, but the creak its old hinges made bounced off the walls of the deserted street. The small crack in the doorway released a flood of two distinct scents into the street and by Veri's strong and unwary nose: the pungent smell of smoke of small paper lights that she was very familiar with, and a sweet, rosy, almost alluring aroma of some flower. She snuffed in disgust but breathed in again to catch what more she could of the flowery scent. Before she could finish the breath however, the figure who had cracked open the door and taken note of who stood before them suddenly opened the door wide, amplifying the squeak of the hinges and ushering in Charlie, who did so gently to the vulpix with his heel.

Her master's heel scooted her to a stop when the door was closed behind them, and most of the sunlight vanished with the crack in the door. Adjusting her eyes to the sudden dim light was difficult, but the candles and lanterns placed randomly around the room made it light enough to make out the shape of the area. Figures were gathered around tables in each corner of the room, and a staircase ascended on the far side. For a moment Charlie did not move, and so faithfully but confused she sat at his feet and continued to try and make out the room they were now in. As her eyes adjusted more she could see that all of the figures in the room were female, with long, shoulderless garments and high-pinned hair. She could not see what they were doing, but a second look at the stairs revealed another figure seated at the base of the steps—and old woman holding an open box, staring at its contents. Veri looked up at Charlie for what to do next, but he was also gazing around the room. Another moment later the female who had let them in rushed over to the old woman on the steps, whispering something hastily into her ear. The woman looked up and identified who was standing across the room and a great smile came to her face. Veri's gaze followed the old woman as she quickly rose to her feet, only as an elderly woman can, and set the box on a nearby table. Then, taking a lantern with her, she vanished up the dark stairs. Once the light from the lantern was no longer visible, the females seated around the room, including the one who had let them in, looked up at the man standing at the door. Veri's ears twitched as she heard various whispers and giggles rise up from around the room as they all clearly stared at the visitor, and she looked up to see his reaction, but she could not see his face. By the time she gave up on figuring out her master's response to the sudden whispers around them they fell silent as the old woman could be heard descending the staircase and her light leading the way. She appeared again, but followed by another female, one appearing no different than the others present, but had a slightly different sense about her by the way she held her arms close to her body, her chin close to her chest, and her eyes downcast except to momentarily make eye contact with the male visitor awaiting them. The old woman gestured the young lady towards the door- towards Charlie- and although her sudden glance at the old woman was of confusion, it was also tinged with a sense of excitement. With another coax from the woman she slowly stepped forward, and made her way over to Charlie. None of the others seemed to pay her mind now; they had returned to their own shady business that their profession provided them. Charlie placed a gentle hand on the back of the girl once she neared him, and quietly said, "Shall we?" gesturing behind him. She nodded. Charlie looked down at Veri and nodded as he always did, pulled open the squeaky wooden door, and escorted to two ladies into the street.

Almost immediately after the door latched shut he turned to his quiet friend and smiled softly, as he did when he thought Veri was asleep on calm nights at sea but was watching him through half-closed eyelids.

"First, let's make you a little more comfortable. A lady of such fancy should not wander around the streets of any city as such," and he removed his coat and placed it over her shoulders. "And," he added, brushing aside some loose strands of hair to reveal an intricate hairpiece carved in the shape of some sea creature, "it looks wonderful on you, by the way,"

Veri was again so lost in what Charlie was doing with this new someone; she didn't know what to make of it as she simply stared up at the pair.

"And I cannot forget to introduce you to my other fair lady, Riis." He turned suddenly and gestured down at Veri, who was caught by surprise. The girl also shifted her gaze at their feet and saw the perplexed vulpix, and a meek smile came to her face. With a seeming nod of approval from Charlie, she gracefully knelt down and reached a tiny hand out toward Veri. The vulpix looked up at her master, who seemed approving as well, and back at the hand near her. Slowly she took a step forward, and another, and breathed in the scent on the hand, which was nothing but the sweet aroma that had flooded her sense of smell before. Veri let her wet nose touch the fingers, and at that the young woman slid her hand up Veri's muzzle and to the top of her head, rubbing the ruffles between her ears. It was a satisfying feeling, both physically and loyally to approve of her master's new companion. After a moment the woman withdrew her hand and rose to her feet. Satisfied, Charlie bent out his arm toward her. "Shall we be off then?" The girl nodded.

As they walked, out of the dark side street and back through the town, Veri could sense the girl's ease the more they went on. By the time they reached the end of town, although still rather meek, she was speaking much more, telling Charlie things that made him laugh heartily, and he would respond with one of his own.

Much to her surprise, Veri did not mind the little attention she was getting from her master; she was still just glad to be with him. Their stroll led them out of the town and up a road through some lightly wooded hills. The midday sun was showing its full face now, and its warmth beamed down on the vulpix, warming her fur instantly as they passed through a clearing. Here, the girl paused and pulled some wildflowers from the side of the road, arranging them in her hands so that when she let go, they did not fall but made a chain, which she joyfully placed around the vulpix's neck. Once again, Veri didn't know what to make of it but Charlie's assurance moved her along, and eventually, their stroll led them to a small path that branched from the road.

The trail was divided in two, as if a wagon frequented here, and it curved into the trees so that one could not see very far down the way. Looking around, Veri noticed a plume of black smoke rising from the trees a short distance away. Charlie noticed it too, and his face and his voice were filled with excitement.

"Come, it's just down this way," and much more hastily than before he ushered his two companions down the way and around the curve in the trees until a wide, dusty clearing opened up, a rather large stone and wooden building nestled in the very center, and a covered area behind that surrounded a tall column of stones, out of which spewed a thick black smoke. For an instant Veri had a flashback to the early days on the plains, and the fire she had started, and the remorse that had driven her from her first home. Now that she thought about it, one of many. They approached the house and stood outside the wooden door to the home, upon which Charlie knocked. A moment later a rather large man swiftly opened the door and greeted them with open arms. He had messy black hair that was tied back and a long, curling wave of hair under his nose that looked rather comical, and the smell and soot that emanated from his clothing was nothing but the thick black smoke pouring from the stack outside. Nonetheless, his greeting was overtly warm.

"Charles! You're back! Come'ere young'e man'e," He embraced Charlie tightly and he stepped back, adjusting his dust-covered coat. At her low position, Veri wrinkled her nose at the putrid, smoky odor of his trousers.

"And who'sa dis beautiful lady heer, ah?" The man gently took the young woman's hand and put his lips to it.

"This is Linda, the one I mentioned in my letter. I have yet to introduce my newest companion, Riis," The man looked down at Veri and grinned, bending over to give her a pat on the head so strong it nearly knocked the vulpix over.

"Well'ah," he replied, looking back at Charlie. "Bring de' two ladies out back and I will show you Charles what I meant when I wrote to you dat my bees'ness has leeterally expanded!" He chuckled loudly to himself and led them through his home to the rear door. On the rearside of the house stood a small clearing marked by three small buildings, on in particular with an open front held up by crudely carved branchless trees and a tall stone stack pouring black smoke.

"Mah shop'ah has not grown'ere but a'mah help has! Gustoff, come'ere my friend!" The trio heard metal clang against something along with loud shuffling, and from behind the smokestack stepped an enormous amber-colored beast. It had a long neck and a small horned head, and a long thick tail that dragged behind it as it lumbered towards them on thick, although short, hind legs. Its two forelegs were much smaller; tiny claws grasped a think metal pole. The most impressive aspect of the beast were its two huge, mossy-shaded wings folded neatly behind it. When the tip of its tail rounded the corner, a live flame burned at the end.

A loud growl resounded within its throat as it approached, and the large man took it from the beast.

"Heeza' grown up, has 'e not? Eheheh, you woodn' believe how much'a work I get done weeth hees' help!"

Veri did not know how to react, so she looked up to Charlie for guidance. He was not focused on the vulpix though, but rather in amazement at the creature before them. "Gustoff, look at you! You've matured beautifully!" He held a hand up and out near its head despite the fact that it towered above all of them. It sniffed the air around Charlie's hand and widened its eyes. It let out a louder growl and lunged forth at Charlie, to which Veri instantly responded with a bark and sunk her teeth into the rough, scaly hide of its thigh. The beast let out a small cry and swatted at her with its muzzle.

"Riis, let go!" Charlie commanded once he realized what had happened. He bent down and forced her to release her grip, glaring down at the vulpix as he stood back up. The tooth marks had not drawn blood. The bite no longer seemed to phase it; it only growled at the tiny canine and rested its head on the large man's shoulder.

"Tony, I'm very sorry. She never acts like that." The large man smiled.

"Eet's okay my friend. Shees'a only protectin' her mastah'. Nothing a'problem weeth zat ah?"

"I suppose you're right. Let's try that again," Charlie reached up a hand toward the beast's head and this time it let him touch it directly, but its eyes never left the vulpix sitting at its feet, staring just as intently back. In truth, Veri did in fact want to sink her teeth into it again but now saw it allowed Charlie to touch and stroke its face at will.

"My Gustoff, you've grown into a beautiful Charizó. Last time I saw you, you were only half as tall as me, but much more feisty. He's calmed down a great deal since then, no?"

"Yah, he ees nothing but'a gentle giant now but'ee was a handful last time you were here for sure'ahh– a temper as nasty red as his hide back then. But'ah let me tell you sir zat de' maturation 'ze second time was everytin' but smooth. What shood'a taken maybe ten or 'leven days lasted eight long weeks. Eight weeks of noot'in but'ah pain and fevah. Eet got so bad I had to close up mah shop'ah just to be weet'im, makin sure he deen't die on me'ah."

There was a short silence as everybody just stared at Gustoff. "But'ah he pulled through for me'ah! Beesa'ness since den has been bettah' than evah! Weeth how much hottah hees' flame can geet, I'an work ze iron so fast eet sells before eets even feenish'd! I've been'ah makin' so much money I can buy a feex'ture fer 'ees tail for 'eem to wear so he'ah don't go burnin' down da whole forest!"

"Wow, Tony, that's great to hear. You seem much better than when I last saw you as well."

"I am'ah. But enough chattah, ah? Let's get down to bees'aness,"

Charlie whispered something to Linda that made her smile as Tony went and then reappeared with a small rug from inside the shop. He motioned to Gustoff with his finger, who lie down on all fours and relaxed its wings. Tony placed the rug over its back, behind its neck, Over which Charlie swung a leg, straddling the huge beast. Next Tony helped Linda seat herself in front. At first she tried to sit with both legs to one side, but a confused look from the two men made her place one leg on each side as Charlie had.

"Gustoff weel take care of everyting! Enjoy yourselves now!" With some subtle command Veri did not catch the amber-winged beast beat its wings to lift off the ground, creating a powerful gust of air that knocked Veri over in a heap. Charlie caught this from the corner of his eye but before he could react they were at the level of the tree tops, and by the time Veri righted herself, they were far from distinguishable sight. When they had completely disappeared, Tony turned to the puzzled and still slightly disoriented vulpix.

"They'ah won't be gone long leetle one. 'Till then you have the run of te'place– go see if'ah Tonya, my'ah other assisteent is'ah around heer, no?" The strength of his head pat was no less than before, but Veri was sure to have good footing when she saw his large hand reaching down for her in the most awkwardly friendly way she had ever encountered. Tony checked the sky once more and waddled into the shadowed part of the workshop to begin some new project.

For a moment or two Veri just stood where she had plopped over, wondering what to do. Who was Tonya? Might as well go try to find out. First, Veri stuck her nose to the sand and sniffed around a bit. There were traces of Tony, of Charlie and Linda, of Gustoff, something too long rotted to distinguish, and, well…feces. She traveled a short way from where she had stood, heading around to the rear of the workshop with the smokestack, nose glued to the ground. Testing the world this way was rather fun, and she had not done this so long a time she could not remember. At the rear of the building a pile of split firewood was stacked, and axe lay misplaced in the grass, and a very large pile of gravel and stones began in one small heap and spilt over to the handle of the axe. Veri continued to pass around the arbitrary items when suddenly the pile of stones shifted, startling the vulpix.

The rocks that had appeared to be loosely fallen gathered up into a mass that rose up off the ground, settling on two peg-like feet. The rest of the stone did not move as shifting land would, but moved in one mass that reached out in to a set of limbs, one that held the axe in a tight grip. Sand and tiny chips of rock fell from its body as it rose. When it stopped rising it was nearly up to where Charlie's midriff would be, and a tiny set of golden eyes flickered open and looked about.

"Grrr…aav…lllavv…" A raspy, deep voice mumbled, looking around and finally down to the vulpix at its feet.

Veri was stunned at this sight– moving rocks? Clearly some creature must be behind it. Wide-eyed, Veri simply sat and watched in amazement at what had just materialized before her.

"Gra…ll…vel…not, around here…grav'lr…you are not?"

The mumble passed by unheard at first but an instant later she realized she had heard words, perking her ears to it, along with all of her attention now.

"Are…you…Tonya?" she hesitantly managed to squeak out.

"Yes…grrrr'vll…know metal man…vell…grr'v…?"

Metal man? Gustoff had been holding a metal rod that she had seen many of around the workshop.

"I do, I know of your master Tony; he is a great friend of my master," She wasn't sure what else to say.

"Break trees…grv'lll…rr'grvll…but sleeping…grv'll…then you come,"

As raspy and difficult as it was, Veri gathered that she had disturbed this…rock…creature's nap…who was apparently supposed to be working, but with a polite smile she slunk away.

Veri ventured around the property some more and found many wondrous things, mostly of iron and other metals strewn about, but none that she could identify, other than the metal harpoons rigged to the ship, although these were much newer and pristine. By the time she made it around the whole clearing, a mass could be seen approaching from the sky.

Charlie hugged his companion tightly when he dismounted Gustoff, and scratched the part of her head where it was just perfect, and in return she gave him a joyful kiss to the face. He straddled her over his shoulder and knelt down to face Linda, took her hand, and after that point Veri lost track of what exactly happened the rest of the day, but she did recall having never seen either of the two so happy.

------

The pups had finally drifted to sleep. They lie there; warm and comfortable near the balmy embers of the dead fire. Veri, as a mother, was glad that her young had a safe, constant place to call their home; something she had never experienced extensively in her own youth. Home…the word reminded the sleepy yet sleepless vulpix about the last time she feared the loss of her home the most. The smell of the rotting swamp returned fresh to her senses as if straight from recent memory.

Veri came to the realization that days in this place, especially when lost, were exactly the same from one to another. The same birds called, the days were always long and monotonous, and it always reeked of rotting life. She saw few distinguishable living creatures as she walked, and it was not until the next morning that she began to grow hungry again. A green and white spotted crocodilian with a huge jaw and red, jagged spines had claimed the kill she had made the previous day, and a powerful spray of water that left her feeling nauseous upon contact had been enough to chase her away. Veri's fur was still caked in spongy, green goop, and neither tongue nor teeth could remove it. Twigs and rotted grass clung to her ratted tail, and it was these that prevented much needed sleep wherever and whenever she attempted it. The lack of rest, approaching hunger, and overall condition of her body was beginning to take a slight toll on her spirit. Suddenly, her hope was shed some light. Ahead, in a cluster of ferns, lie a dead animal of some sort.

As she neared the corpse she could see that it was the same rose-and-black creature Oni had shown her to suckle milk from on the farm– it was pristine, untouched, and it was only just now that the flies were beginning to settle on the meat. A creature of this type, even dead, seemed so…out of place in a swamp like this, all very unnatural rather. Maybe it had strayed. Such thoughts quickly moved on however as she hastily circled the carcass to find the best location for her first bite.

In her haste she tripped up on something lying hidden beneath the underbrush and instantly she rose from the ground, the meat sinking below her. Confused and half dazed, Veri struggled to mover her head, but it was stuck in something– she turned as much as she could– Veri had been caught up in a knotted net, and her head had irreversibly slipped through a slit in the rope. She squirmed and writhed trying to regain her footing inside but her short legs only got more entangled through the openings in the net. The tiny vulpix's heart raced. What was she to do now? There was no getting the rope between her teeth to gnaw through, and no turning to burn through; her head was too tightly locked in place. Desperately she began crying, yelping for anyone, anything, but the dark muddy forest was as dead as ever before.

Although Veri tried to count the days she hung there, limp and starving, the number of times she drifted in and out of consciousness blurred the lines of day and night. Birds called out, but as she dangled above the musty swamp floor the silence grew piercing.

She had just drifted back to consciousness when suddenly she heard rumbling and leaves shifting underneath. Turning as much as possible to get a view of the ground, she saw ferns shift and rustle again, accompanied by a series of low clicks and growls. Veri squirmed around more and managed to get a full view of what she was now realizing was "bait" lying rotten on the damp floor. Then, out from the soggy undergrowth crawled a stunningly odd creature, the same that had chased her from her catch however many days before. She was not sure if this crocodilian was that same individual, but its incredible under bite and overlapping teeth made it no less fierce. As it stood, crouched low to the ground almost on its belly, considering what to make of its find, it flexed its set of long red fins that crowned its tail and head. Its sides were painted bright white, speckled with the red of its crown. Dangerous as it was, she tried desperately to get its attention.

She wiggled around, making the net sway, and a loud bark as she could muster caused it to pause from picking at the corpse.

The resonating murmur came up at her, "Crococo...nnnoco...aww…" The sounds she heard were indistinguishable, but this was not so easily her limitation.

"Excuse me, down there," She yelled down at the puzzled reptile. "Please help me," The scaly creature cocked its elongated head to one side, in either confusion or consideration; which was nearly impossible to tell since it would not respond. It just stared at her with its black, beady eyes, a string of pink flesh dangling from its teeth. Moments later it was scarfing down its find once more, and the time in which Veri watched the creature gorge itself was long and unknown. The smell of the blood and sound of the tearing flesh and snapping bones in its jaws made the starving vulpix's mouth water beyond any in clear memory. During this time she drifted in and out of some shallow sleep, and when she awoke again the creature had gone, leaving half the carcass uneaten.

And so, for the second time since stumbling into the swamp, gnawing hunger and despair gripped the vulpix such that the days bled into one another. There were only two discernable changes that occurred over the mesh of days: The first, the mass of gnats that clung to her matted, smelly coat, or swarmed around the carcass below, which had long lost its appeal, even as it sat so close, yet so far. The second was the type of animal that passed by the easy meal below, how many, and how frequent.

Veri's body was also beginning to feel the sting of things other than hunger. The lack of food made her bowels burn like heat from an intense flame, which, when conscious enough to be aware of it, she was sure there was a real flame inside her, especially at her gullet. It was the kind of feeling that you get when you are so hungry or nervous that you feel your stomach in your throat. Her throat, and her whole neck for that matter, felt the brunt of the awkward position she was suspended in. The ropes had long been cutting into the skin behind her head and under her jaw, and in some places there was no doubt the fur had been rubbed off and the flesh raw. This kept her locked in place even more in order to stay the rope from moving even the slightest bit around in the open wounds that would surely become infected if she did not free her head. The vulpix's breathing had grown heavy, and occasionally she would hack and wheeze black smoke that drifted down and away. Her breath got to escape, but only her breath.

Once, when the sky above the trees was darkened, the air cool but no less thick, the net unexpectedly began to sway. Groggily she looked up as high as allowed and up above, where the net hung from a tree, a bird perched, trying to swallow some fruit it had grasped in it beak. It was the same kind of black crow with a yellow beak, huge head and tail feathers, and a strange fascination with shiny objects, as she had seen growing up on the plains. In its shaking, a single berry flew from the bunch and landed in a groove near Veri's forepaw above her head. Gently she used what energy that remained to shimmy the small fruit down, and just before it fell, her tongue caught hold of it and was it ever the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. The fruit was sweet, yes, for such a small fruit the juice that seeped out and trickled on her tongue was more spirit lifting than suddenly dropping to freedom would have been. Her throat tightened as she swallowed, practically forcing the tiny juice down, but what taste remained was crisp and cool. Her mouth quickly regained its parched, shriveled sensation. The bird flew off, leaving her alone once more.

When the rains came, Veri became little more than a cloth in a bucket. The water was not warm, but it was not cold either, and as miserable as hanging limp in a downpour was, the showers cleaned her disheveled coat of some of its scum. The rains lasted for an entire day; she was sure of this because there was no sleeping in weather such as this. When the rising sun cooled the already saturated forest, all Veri could do was stare out into the muddled swamp.

Something changed the stare into a groggy attentiveness the instant ferns began to shift and rustle. There was little time to sit and wonder if this was her next hopeful; a pair of huge lavender snakes slunk out of the brush, their fanned heads with strange, bright-colored, menacing markings waving about like their split tongues. If their fangs were not long enough, the span of their bodies must have been twice Charlie's height. They did not look up or seem to notice the live catch dangling above them at first; they simply circled and prodded the rotting meat that had attracted them to this site. Veri's occasional bouts of wheezing black smoke took an inopportune time to come out, and the sound and smoke combined set their sights upward at the now terrified vulpix. One immediately made for the nearest tree and began circling up its trunk, where one short leap would set it on her, and helpless with nothing to do but wait, it did just that.

A loud tearing noise split the chaotic air and Veri dropped instantly to the ground. One of the snakes landed on top of her and one fell a few paces away. The farther of the two was winded but shook and righted itself, and leapt for the vulpix a second time. From where the next burst of energy came she did not know, but with a dive to the side and a great breath of air a plume of flame burst forth, singing the net, nearby dying plants, and her two attackers. There was a hiss of steam and squealing whines rang up in the cluster of smoke. The air cleared and the pair lie on their sides, hides singed black. They were still breathing. Without any other thought Veri took off in a random direction.

This mystery burst of energy was a great shock to the vulpix, for now, her body ran solely on an adrenaline rush that came with fear, courage, or a mix of the two. Avoiding pools, mudslides, and tall grasses Veri quickly came upon ground that did not squish beneath her light paws. The dirt was hard and the field a bright gold, and the trees thinned the more she ran away from the morning sun. The land began to roll, with highs and lows and even fewer trees. Now, she grew tired again, and upon cresting a hill she shut her eyes tight and collapsed on the ground. No sleep came, but not long after halting from fatigue Veri half-opened an eye to survey the land below the hill she lie on. A double-look was made, but she could not believe what lay before her. Below, the hill flattened out, and an expanse of land from the sea on the far left to beyond her vision to the right was filled with woodland, and, beyond that, lie a tiny cluster of something that did not look placed there by nature. A town lie on the horizon.

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The morning sun beamed down brightly upon the whelping bed and its contents. The young did not wake, but the vulpix flicked an ear as she heard movement on the creaky wooden floor in her master's bedchamber. A moment later, Charlie appeared out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him, once Oni, who sleepily trailed at his heels, had also stepped out of the room. Charlie paced over to her, noticing she was awake, and knelt down, scratching her on the head without a word. After a moment he rose to his feet, made his way to the other side of the room, and opened a wooden box. He reached into it, pulled out two graciously-sized hunks of meat and bone, and dropped them into two wood dishes. Charlie returned to where Veri lay and, with another quick scratch on the head, set one of the dishes beside her, then stepped outside to the stoop to place Oni's morning meal. Veri loved the new food that became available once they had moved permanently from the ship. When fresh meat was available it was always delicious, and when it was stored it tasted very remnant of the water from the sea, and fresh meat was not as tender, but meat was a delight nonetheless. Sometimes Linda would share her leftovers from the pot with the two canines, and those days were the best of all. Soon, she would have to introduce her young to the diet of a weaned pup, and she hoped that it would be just as when she was treated to it for the very first time, now countless seasons ago.


	24. Bloodsport

If you want to skip my insightful banter, you can scroll down to the title listing =]

**Author's Note:** I felt that my typical notes were rather predictable, usually regarding my terrifying deadline failures, but in preparing the previous installment I thought a great deal about where I wanted to go with Veri and also to address some concerns brought to my attention from you.

Because this narrative is intended to be a perpetual work-in-progress, I could not possibly go into as much detail as I'd like nor is Veri's lifetime short enough to flesh out in the detail that many other stories require.

Through the years I've refined my style and approach in describing the world of pokemon that I intend to paint; one that is real and compromising, yet natural. I try to combine features from the real world with one of opportunistic fantasy, both virtuous and lovely, and ugly and cruel. I suppose I could say that this is the quintessence of my love of making the unreal real. I go to great lengths at times in researching the best way to make this possible, ranging from how modern concepts might be historically explained to how attacks and their commands do not clash with natural and social physics. All this challenges my creative wits every day, and I am more proud with each new submission to be able to share this world I am trying to build for you.

More specifically, the world in which Veri lives out her endless life is one in which I have no specific layout, no world map (I did try this with no success) with which I could trace Veri's travels or timeline. Instead, her existence is more something that I let you, as the reader paint for yourself, by including only the most necessary details. It is the style in which my writing follows—I am nowhere near as skilled as some authors in this place as far as descriptives go, but in my opinion, they are not always necessary. Personally I feel that allowing the imagination of the reader to fill in what I do not is a powerful tool for making the perfect story: one that is complete no matter how you look at it because the details for everyone will always be slightly different. Veri travels, and will travel, to many different parts of the 'world', and will meet people and creatures who speak, act, and appear different among themselves and the world we know, which is my model. I will however, as was brought to my attention, be much more descriptive in my writing for new creatures, as I can understand it might be very confusing if not done correctly. What will help, I think, is that someday, the literal names we have for each one will be commonly used in Veri's world, but we must not forget words, names, and everything else evolves over time. "Charizó", I think, accompanied with a more detailed description, isn't too unclear enough to take away from the historical realism I blanket this section with

Thank you for reading my, well, first blog I guess you could call it. Most likely the last, but please, bring anything and everything to my attention so I know to keep going.

Now, without further adieu, I bring to you the first chapter containing battle references…

(I'm excited :P)

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_Notes for the chapter:_

_-Canteie speaks with a Romanian accent, which is the accent of her master's homeland, however it is not the actual Romania._

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Aetas Infinitas

Chapter 24

Bloodsport

"Oni can take a little scrap against that awkward bitch! It's head is so big I'm surprised it's able to walk!"

Charlie held Veri tightly to his chest as she fidgeted, anxious at what the suspense that clogged the air would bring. Veri could barely remember having ever heard this tone in her master's voice. It was…contemptuous in nature.

Charlie has been on a morning stroll with his two small companions when they passed a gathering in the middle of town. Pushing though the crowd they heard whispers of a visitor to town with a beast more than just exotic, but one that bore an inconceivable, strange ability.

The man standing near the pair nonchalantly spoke in their direction. "They say this fellow's managed to tame one of those beasts that makes light as fast as a brewing storm, the…_electrus, _I think they're called. Heard just yesterday I did that it left a pidgeot, one of those giant ones, lyin' smokin' on the ground behind the pub the night before. Dern, the new barkeep, said his son saw with his own two eyes a blinding flash of light when this beast bit down on the bird. I'd watch your poochyen carefully Charles," Veri looked back over her master's shoulder; the russet-feathered night owl with the piercing red eyes sitting alertly on the arm of the man who had just spoken was glaring at her rather curiously.

The man standing behind the strange creature did not immediately respond to Charlie's insult. He simply stood, arms folded across his chest, staring them with a confident, yet inquisitive eye.

"We shall see, my good sir. My friend her is very fast; no ordinary creature you have seen around these parts. Shall we try and see?"

The beast standing between Oni and the strange man was only slightly larger than the gray dog, but its head was what gave it much of its height. The fur covering its body was a light mossy shade, with golden stripes running along its sides, and atop its head, two oversized ears folded back, possibly permanently, and in between them a mane of long fur that seemed to stand like needlepoints rustled with some faint glow.

Her master hesitated- "My friend is no fighter, but his vigor may be enough. Oni, as in a hunt!" Oni did not look back, and at these words he lowered his fore body in a defensive stance, tail in the air and all fur on end. A low growl emanated from the gray dog's throat.

"I will be a gentleman and let you begin," the stranger remarked at the sight of the small canine's defensive stance.

Charlie need speak no words, for instantly Oni opened his mouth and a dark cloud formed between his jaws and his muscles trembled. The moss-shaded opponent remained stone-still. Oni flinched slightly to release his dark cast but before he could unleash it there was a flash of light and the other beast sped around him. Before anyone could realize what had happened the other beast had circled Oni from behind, and had tackled him with a flash of light and heat upon contact, and as is stood as stock still as before, almost as if nothing had happened, Veri's friend lie singed in the dirt in the center of town. A burning smell flushed the cool air around them and instantly, Charlie rushed forward to Oni's side, Veri flying off his shoulders and landing on her rump in the dirt. She bounded over to her friend's side. What she saw appalled her.

Charlie knelt down and almost began to tear up. Oni was still breathing, but hardly, and his limbs were limp and his body singed to the skin where the tackle had made direct contact. The skin was red and black-scarred, and the dog's eyes were closed. Without another word Charlie removed his coat, gently placed Oni into it, and cradled him in his arms as he left the scene, not looking back at the stranger and his cruel beast.

Veri found it difficult to keep up as Charlie ran to a building across town, and after a loud, long pounding at the door a man answered whom Veri recognized as the man who had mended her cuts from a fall once. Charlie handed the charred dog to the man and plopped himself in a seat near the door.

"It's a good thing you brought him here right away, these burns are bad, but I will see what I can do for him."

A barely discernible "Thank you" could be heard uttered from her master's mouth, but he just sat there with his head in his hands, as he had done in the days before he had come to be with Linda.

The pair sat there for what seemed like hours. Charlie did not move, save to cross his legs and recline in the chair, one hand on his chin in anxious thought. At some point, the man summoned Charlie to the back room, and soon after, left the place without Oni in his arms, calling for Veri to follow.

After leaving Oni with the stranger, Charlie and Veri made their way to what she had often heard him refer to as "the brewspot". Inside, the place was filled with familiar faces and smells, and as the pair made their way to the tall seats near the back Veri spotted her coon friend with his human. She often played with the young sandy-cocoa-colored rascal with the black markings over his eyes. His fur was always disheveled, as if it grew with a naturally-bad trim that was choppy and unruly. Either way, the spunk of the youngster kept her entertained. His master simply referred to him as "Ziggy".

As she was wagging her tails in greeting across the room, she looked behind her to see Charlie had already sat down beside a man at the high table. They were sharing drinks and were conversing over some strange thing. Veri went over to the base of Charlie's seat and he reached down and pulled her up to his lap.

"I'm sorry about your poochyen sir. My little friend, she is…special…I won't deny that. Honestly she is even more than I can handle sometimes. She has a temper, and a nasty one, that I'm still trying to get her out of. That's the reason behind that story everybody's been passin' ever since I first stepped into town. She had run off, and I guess the trash behind the pub she'd been pickin' at seemed equally appealing to the giant bird, and, well, whatever makes her so cross got the best of her."

Charlie did not seem convinced.

"That's odd," he remarked.

"What's that Charles?"

"There are usually not piles of old food sitting out behind that place– the scourman and his fire beasts come and take it to burn so the whole city doesn't smell like rotting shit. This place has always kept their streets clean, but could I tell you about some of the places I visited back in my days on the sea– there were towns, whole provinces even, that did not think anything of dumping their waste and rubbish...among other things... wherever they pleased. Needless to say, I never stayed in port in those places for very long."

The man let out a hearty laugh, and from his lap Veri watched her master's gaze travel from the bottom of his mug back to the man beside them. "What exactly is she, if I might ask? I've been many places and have only heard of creatures that can do such things. I suppose, more specifically, are there enough of her kind somewhere to call it something new? I'm also itching to know how you managed to obtain her, but I've probably worn you with all my questions already."

"Oh, no, not at all.' The man waved to a stranger behind the bar, who placed two foaming mugs in front of the two men. "I don't mind sharing in the least. I picked'er up on the other side of the Dwarf Sea; I'm sure you know those routes well; in a place where the land flattens at the foot of the mountains. Groups of about a dozen or so I'd say, just wanderin' the land. And by the god can they run," Charlie gravely looked away for a moment. "The most astounding part of it was the other members of the group; I'm thinking they're the matured adults of the little green ones. Charles, you have to see the beasts. Tall as a man at the top of their huge, golden manes; the golden fur lines their ankles and tail, and is always standing on-end, as if they were needles. The rest of its fur is a blue like the darkest clouds before a sea squall." The man's voice and gaze grew distant with wonder. "And their eyes, they…they pierce a man's soul…That big one stared me down before I thought to move… but in the end, it just ran off with the rest of the group; the little bitch kept squirming to get out of my arms…."

No doubt paying full attention now, Charlie stared at the man in amazement.

"You…_stole_ it??"

The man struggled to put a sentence together. "I…I couldn't help it. I was feeling ambitious and was convinced I could get away with it. And I did!"

"For the love of– you have no idea what things, what…monsters are out there. You could get yourself killed!" Veri felt Charlie abruptly slide the seat back and stand up, grabbing her under the stomach firmly with one hand. "Thank you for the round, but even in my days of venture and ambition would I never–" He didn't finish his sentence and stormed out the door, Veri clutched by the scruff of her neck in one hand, and went straight back to the house. Inside, Linda was sitting at the hearth, stirring the fire. Their son was already in bed.

Without noticing exactly what he was doing he dropped the vulpix to the floor, who scrambled to her bed and the sleeping pups, and Oni, who was still bandaged over half his body since he had been delivered back to the house by the man from town. From her bed she watched him remove his heavy coat and boots, and slam the bedroom door. Linda just stared at the door in silence, wide-eyed, and glanced down at Veri, and the two exchanged a rather comical, confused expression. No words were spoken, as was typical of Linda, and after some time she sifted the embers to let them die and quietly made her way into the room in which Charlie had vanished. The pups did not wake, even amidst the sudden commotion, but Oni had shifted and was trying to get comfortable again after disrupting his bandaged skin, though he made no noise. After all in the house had settled once more she lay her head on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes.

Late that night while everyone slept and the house had not a sight or sound in it but the dying embers from the hearth, Veri's ears flickered and she lifted her head to see her master slowly exit the room where he slept and silently close the door. He made his way to a chair at the table and sat, covering his face with his hands. Just as slowly Veri slunk from the pups' bed and over to her master's feet, and nudged his shin with her nose. He moved away a hand and looked down.

"Cannot sleep either, can you?" At first Veri half expected him to put a hand on her head but he just stared at the empty space beside her for a moment. She nudged his leg harder.

"That man...I accused him of what I know as a crime but...that makes me a criminal by my own standard...and now I can't get the thought to leave my head,"

Now he looked back at her and reached down, after a short silence. He ran his fingers from the top of her head, behind her ears to under her jaw. "Should I go back and tell him of my own blasphemy? Would it let me rest?" His gaze seemed to be seeking answers from the vulpix, but she knew even less than he did about the matter, and her silence in the already silent night discouraged him. He quickly withdrew his hand.

"Bah- The stranger won't be in town long. After a day or two he'll be on his way and my conscience will be clear. No worries then!" Charlie abruptly rose and returned to the room. She tried to comprehend what was ailing her master, but it was beyond her. These matters were always frustrating. Now that she was awake and no one else was, she felt the least bit tired- there would be no sleep for her at this point. In the cool of the night, Veri decided to go for a stroll.

The door was always easy to open; just a creaky push and she was out. The stillness of the air was chilling, and other than the wind in the tips of the trees the only noises were the calls of the rather irritating black birds that cawed harshly whenever something was astir, or dead, so they could scavenge.

Veri knew the way into town well, and once she arrived there she found it to be just as empty as the road. The usual scavengers were about; the black crows with the huge head feathers that cawed noisly around dead or shiny things, the nasty strays with the clawed forepaws, red feathers, and the midnight-shade hides from the place where Linda had come from, but no lights lit the windows. Veri began her peaceful stroll through the empty town in the full moonlight, and she wandered for quite some time until her attention was suddenly drawn off to the side, behind a building, by a quick flash of light and some voices.

"The bastard says you can't come inside after your little 'demonstration' today, so wait here, and DON'T run off again, please." The creature barked in compliance and remained seated until the man disappeared inside, then it lie down and put its huge head on its forepaws. Veri scanned the area again, and took a step out from around the corner.

Her feet in the weeds alerted the resting creature, who instantly raised its head and looked about on full alert. Its ears, which had rested against the large crest of fur on its head before, were straight up and watchful now, scanning the darkness around it with as much attention as its sharp gaze. Veri's head peered around the corner of the building and after a moment of searching it spied her, and fixed its gaze but then relaxed when it scented the air.

"Ah, it is only you."

It seemed to already know her, and Veri took a half cautious, half curious step

out from behind the corner.

Slowly, Veri spoke up. "You are the one who fought in town today,"

"I am,"

Veri did not know what to say next; she had not planned this far ahead. Her curiosity stood up first and she tossed a pining question at the stranger.

"I must ask: When you create your light, do you feel any pain? I felt the heat of your strike from even a distance and worried that you had harmed yourself."

"Do not worry little one. When I send my force into another or even into the air I feel a great release of tension in my flesh. When I can move as quickly as I please the rush pushes me to a joy few can experience, if that satisfies your curiosity."

The "rr" sounds in her voice rolled with a slight growl as she spoke, with such a dialect Veri had never heard before; it was strong and smooth, and the "oo" were spoken with a deep, elegant sound.

"I am Canteie. May I ask what you are called?"

Veri thought this name was one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard, and mimicked the bowing motion Canteie made with her head and a foreleg. Her motions were as graceful as her voice.

"I'm Veri..."

"It is a pleasure to meet you my friend. What brings you out so late into the night?"

Veri did not feel comfortable telling this stranger that she was just out for an aimless midnight walk, especially after seeing what she did to, could do, to Oni.

"Your master seems convinced you have an unsettling temper; he said he finds you to be fickle and uncontrollable at times...I don't see why he would say such things. You are kind to me, even as a stranger."

"I do not consider you a stranger, my dear. I saw you in the arms of your master in the crowd as I fought your friend. I did not show it, but I watched you from afar and have been fond of you since, even without your knowledge."

Veri was quite surprised to hear that she had been judged before even having met. Canteie appeared to have a sense about those she observed, and seemed to be one that watched from afar rather than involve herself in any unnecessary commotion. With mention of that day however, Veri's thoughts shifted straight to Oni, and if Canteie felt any remorse for the woeful condition she had left him in. She suddenly felt confrontational.

"You harmed my mate...he lies near our pups in pain where his fur is singed past the skin. Have you thought at all of what he has felt?" Veri's calm from Canteie's voice became sharp and demanding.

"Your mate has more ambition than his tiny body can hold. My master asked me to attack, and I obeyed. Had it been you in front of me I would have protested his command but I saw an ambition in him that needed to be tamed. His burns will heal, I assure you. My master asks such things of me often and I have great control over what I do. Yet why he feels I am manic and tempestuous is beyond me. My whole life he has shown me that loyalty and love are the virtues to live by, and he feeds me in return for the things he asks of me. I cannot ask for more than that."

Veri had caught on well by now that this female was restrained and sincere, but also proud and ignorant; she lived within the confines of her master's will and was content with whatever outcome it bore, no matter the result. It was this facet of her disposition that Veri found most unsavory, and she somehow found the hidden courage to confront the stoic canine.

"You killed the bird that night- it was just looking for food! Your master seems to care for you well enough that you need not go sifting through the waste of humans for a meal. Like Oni, that bird may have had a mate or young it was seeking to feed. I admire your loyalty and gift for knowing others, but I cannot stomach the disregard you show simply because your master commands it! Do you remember anything about how you came to your master? Has he shared with you his "virtuous" story?"

"My master chose me as his companion when my mother did not. They ran and left me to him. In gratitude I do as he asks, nothing more or less. As for the bird and its demise, my master had cast me away in the sudden fits of rage he has and in turn I felt the same. "

The courage that drove the otherwise timid vulpine suddenly flared with great intensity at the utter dismissive nature of this creature. Courage transformed to rage and Veri knew the instinct she had been becoming more and more familiar with were taking over, and she did not inhibit this in the least. Her ears flattened and all six tails fanned out in a display completed by a tiny show of teeth and lowered foreleg. Canteie instantly responded with a similar display, and strings of light began to fly from her olive, needle-like fur. She snarled in return, with more ferocity than when she had "fought" Oni. In its intensity Veri felt her own fur stand on end and the inside of her throat stir and heat all the way up to her palate.

"I see why your master sees you how he does," Veri snarled. "You grow fickle when one does not see your way, and you cannot cope with the realization,"

Canteie's crimson eyes narrowed with the fury that this petite beast say such things to her. "I do not wish you suffer the same fate as your mate- you best leave me be,"

Behind the building where the humans held their company, unaware as to the conflict that was igniting just outside in the black of the night, the air around the fuming pair began to strobe and flicker, and if one was so foolish as to look closely the air surrounding the vulpix's muzzle began to dance and wave with a growing heat. The line of warm light that shone through the crack in the back door from the inside split the ground between them. Canteie shook with an anxious rage that she could no longer contain and she shot at the intimidating auburn canine fuming before her.

Veri felt the heat in the air shift as she saw the flickering beast lunge at her. She was extremely fast, and in defense Veri released a plume of flames out at her attacker, but Canteie fell upon the vulpix and knocked her backwards. A white burst of light exploded from between them and a loud hiss could be heard, For a brief moment nothing within ten steps could be seen and she felt a line of energy perusing through her heated body, pushing off with her legs to knock the hidden creature off her. Following, a crash into a pile of old wood that ignited upon contact. The white light faded and Veri saw Canteie lying on her backside amidst glowing edges of lit planks of dried wood. She wanted to sink her teeth into the smoking flesh but she knew that any physical contact would land her worse off than Oni. In the brief moment Canteie lie in the heap, Veri felt her feet go numb; they had touched the sparked fur. Canteie was just getting her bearings, glaring the vulpix down for another pounce but the brawl was interrupted by the commotion inside, the swinging of the door, and two angry men peering outside to see what had caused such a ruckus. There was shouting from inside and the two men had barely enough time to look around before Canteie's master shoved past them and dropped to his knees before her. When her gaze shifted from Veri to him she stopped convulsing and looked up at him with a suddenly regretful search for approval. Instead, Veri watched in amazement as the man clocked her over the skull with a gloved hand, and he did not jump from contact. Veri was shocked to watch, wide-eyed, as he took his covered hand and grabbed his companion behind the neck and hold her in mid air as he stood up, staring her down. The sudden tense silence was broken by harsh words that caught the now calming vulpix off guard, making her jump.

"That man put some sense into this thick skull o' mine, and now I'm thinkin' we have some straightenin' out to do," and he stormed around the corner to the front of the building, and out of sight. When no more of him could be heard one of the men watching from the door came over to Veri and knelt down at her side. Her fur was still on end, but her tails rested low behind her and while Veri felt her heart still racing the heat in her throat had subsided. The man put his hands on her sides, inspecting her over and once over again. She just stood there and watched him above her, still taking in the abruptness of what had just happened. The numbness in her feet increased as the exhilaration left her. She fell to her haunches. The stranger caught her up in his hands and gently picked her up off the ground, inspecting her further. Veri's body was tingling with some strange feeling that came and went, flaring up in random spots inside her. Veri shook her head and a tiny string of white light flew from her straightened fur. Besides not being able to feel random parts of her body, she felt fine, triumphant even.

She was carried, still cradled in the stranger's hands, into the building they had tussled behind. The warm glow of the lights were not overwhelming to her vision, and from the other end of the large room a loud entrance made Veri's right ear flicker. She looked over and Charlie came bursting through the door, scrambling over to where the man held the vulpix. He frantically took her from his grasp and cradled her tightly in his arm as he ran his fingers rapidly through her static fur. Veri felt gratitude and a slight sense of relief at being in his arms, although most of the relief came entirely from no longer feeling purely instinctual rage and ferocity. Soon, still cradled in her masters arms and the tingling in her muscles perusing throughout, a soft calm descended upon the tiny vulpix, and she suddenly fell into a deep sleep, waking only momentarily to find herself lying near her young and Oni. Before she fell back into that deep sleep, a tiny voice and a single word..."...mommy?" came to her ears that caught her attention, but not enough to fight off the sleep that now overtook her.

---

_A/N: As requested, if I was not descriptive enough, Canteie is an electrike. I'm working in improving this, so please, let me know!_


	25. Growing Pains

Chapter 25

Growing Pains

The moon came and went four more times since Charlie had found both his companions in contact with the beast from town. Life went on as normal and the trees began to slowly turn into flaming colors. It was around this time that Veri began hearing cries of a different sort from her children, and at first fretted, but quickly realized that she knew exactly what was going on; Further inspection of the pups revealed that, starting at their rumps, a slight shade of brown was beginning to frost up. It was faint, but over time it quickly began to replace the pale fuzz that very had little trouble in cleaning previously but soon found the longer, colored hairs were much more meticulous to groom. Also during this time, she observed what was causing their pains. From where it poked out of their tiny backsides, the stub of a tail had begun to separate on both pups, and as the weeks passed each pup had two stumps, and then four, and after several more weeks, when the first snow of the year had fallen, six slightly longer stumps, each split one at a time, grew from the young vulpixs' body. Not long after the splitting ceased, so did their cries. Often kept awake late at night by their cries, when caressing them with her tongue was not enough, she would lie sleepless, staring out into the dark room and try to remember her own such pains, but there was no such memory. She could hardly remember those she had come to live with before Charlie. She had a single mental image of a brood of plant-like things that had followed her around, but nothing more came to mind. This strange void in memory caused Veri to wonder what else had she forgotten since her time here. In her late night thoughts she also sometimes wondered about others who looked like her...why had she never seen any? There were her young, but were there any other small vulpines out there whom she had yet to meet? It was impossible to say. Once the pups' tails stopped splitting, sleep returned to the mother, and so the endless midnight thoughts ceased.

Both of her young quickly began to show their unique personalities. Phen often made various loud noises in an attempt to tell his mother many various things, and all Veri could do for the time being was to acknowledge him and praise him for his efforts. It was irritating at times, but nevertheless it was utterly adorable. He growled and tugged on his mother and sister's ears. He tried countless times to bite at his tails. He even tried to venture out of the bed on several occasions, each attempt quickly thwarted by a tireless mother.

As if she was not quiet enough, Brynn spent long periods of the day simply gazing in wonder up at the giant brown bird that had come to live with them since his master had stopped breathing and passed away. Over time she grew to sheer fascination with Runt, and on occasion curled up against his huge feathers whenever he would lie beside them. Runt would often speak softly to her, and she would continue to stare up at him with her big, auburn eyes.

When she had thought about it before, Veri had had no idea as to how she was going to teach the pups to speak. She quickly learned that, for creatures at least, it came considerably easy. Since she spent so much time with Runt near the pups anyways, she found that they quickly begun to pick up on things around them, often emulating words or sounds she made in everyday conversation with her friend. Correcting things like it was not a beak who had Runt but Runt who had a beak were simple compared to trying to separate the countless differences between humans and their fellow creatures. Overall, Veri was surprised by their speed at learning to speak, and once Runt had commented to her that he had never seen any creature, not his own kind or others, learn anything so complex so quickly.

By the final melt of the snow the pups were fully mobile, and the rambunctious nature of all young things was allowed to fully show itself as the lush grass of spring became the new feeling under their tiny, playful feet. Both Brynn and Phen loved being outside, playing under the trees around the house, hiding in the tall grasses and pouncing on one another. Usually Brynn was the victim here, but occasionally she would have a go at lying quietly in a brush pile and surprising her brother. Sometimes they would even insist that their mother join in, and she was hesitant at first, but quickly Veri remembered the joyful play she had once experienced and shared it with her young under the warm sun of early summer.

One day, during their routine play, Veri was resting with her head on her paws on the front stoop when she heard a frightful cry come from beneath the tree where she had left the pups. The grass was long, and standing to search for them was of little good. The cry rang up again and it was of no doubt this time coming from her son. She raced off the stoop and towards the tree, her haste attracted the attention of Runt, who had been nestled nearby, and made his way curiously over to the scene behind the worried mother.

Brynn was frantically pacing around her brother, and wagged her tails in anxiety when she saw Veri approach. Phen was lying sprawled on his side; his eyes were closed and he was panting heavily.

"Mommy, he fell down," Brynn softly said to her mother. She looked down at him and back up at Veri, who herself was as nervous and confused at the situation.

She knelt down beside him. "Phen, its mommy...can you hear me?"

He shook suddenly and cried out in pain again. Veri moved to curl up beside him so that he was between her and Brynn. Veri did not know what was wrong with him. They hadn't had pains of this sort since their tails had split the previous year, so what could be happening now? Brynn's soft voice broke the frantic spell that was quickly overtaking Veri's mind.

"He said his mouth was hurting before, and he fell down..." Veri's ears perked up upon hearing this and she stared intently at Brynn.

"Brynn, when did he start hurting? Tell Mommy!"

Brynn appeared confused for a moment and couldn't manage to find the words to answer her mother.

Veri's rushing thoughts was broken again by a word from Runt, who was watching from behind them. "Veri, have they found their heat yet, by any chance?" That was it. Veri had completely forgotten about their fire and when it might come, but she had had no idea when the time would come. It must be now. But what was she to do? Was this a phenomena that came and went on its own, or was she required to help in some way? Frantically, she turned to the bird.

"What do I do? I don't remember this happening to me," She had always looked to him for wisdom, but even Runt was at a loss.

"I...I'm not sure what to do; I've never seen anything like this before, and my young certainly never endured it. I don't know what to do either,"

She looked back down at her son again. She felt like time was running out, but was it? Merely sitting here was too much to bear. Veri's fear was growing, and in frustration she turned her head away and released a plume of flame that dissipated into the fast-blowing breeze. She felt her throat tighten as it always did when she set loose, and something behind her tongue relax and shrink. Then it occurred to her- maybe that was the source of his pain. Veri rolled Phen to face her and she began to push gently on his neck with her nose. She lightly massaged the soft underside of his tiny throat until she felt an area swollen greater than it had been earlier that day. Veri had no idea if it was the right thing to do or not, but trusting some subtle voice in the back of her mind, she pressed repeatedly on the swollen gland. Each push made him wince and cry out, and she had only her voice to calm him. A moment later a faint hissing noise could be heard from inside and Phen's body relaxed, though his eyes remained closed. Another anxious moment later, as everyone watched and waited, he suddenly began to hack and wheeze and it looked as though he was readying to vomit; he coughed out a deep red sac covered in some horridly smelling secretion it had leaked. Phen breathed heavy and lifted his head. Staring down at him with worried expressions, Veri's own eyes lit up and she barked in excitement, nuzzling him and caressing him with her tongue. Veri suddenly recognized the smell that was passing her nose- it was the same smell that she remembered the day Charlie had made her produce flame, now so long ago, but she had once coughed up a dark, smelling fluid like this one and had completely forgotten. "Runt, Phen has gotten his fire!"

"Phen, dear, can you hear me? Look at me," His glossy eyes stared up at her in gratitude and he wagged what he could of his tails. "Phen, you've gotten your fire!"

Phen managed to crack a tiny smile, but was interrupted by a sudden loud belch that released a string of blue flame out into the grass in front of them, singeing it away. The pup's eyes grew wide.

"What was that mom?"

Veri smiled and licked the side of his muzzle again. "You're growing up,"

"What about me mommy?" Brynn curled up closer to the pair and stared at her mother intently.

"I don't know dear, but I wouldn't think too long; it's an exciting time for you."

Veri also wanted them to be well-acquainted with humans before it became more difficult for them to adjust. They already enjoyed playing with Charlie's son, bounding around the yard on clumsy paws as the boy toddled from the tree to the steps and back around to the garden. In the very beginning, Brynn had been fearful of Charlie's hands near her, but she soon learned that past the fear usually lie a comforting scratch or perhaps a small treat. Both pups loved Charlie before too long, and sometimes when their mother was resting they would both follow their master around the yard while he did his work. Phen particularly loved being with Linda when she worked in the garden. Often she swat at him when he gnawed on a shoot or stalk she was trying to grow, but for the most part he loved being among the flowers and plants with her. He would not go near the garden alone however, for he claimed there was a particular strange plant that rustled when there was no wind and once had unearthed itself and crawled around the garden. Veri asked Phen if he had ever heard it make a sound, and all it would say is "Odd? Odd?"

Veri tried as much as she possibly could to get Brynn to seek out Charlie on her own, but the little female was utterly taken with Runt. Any time away she got to herself was spent seeking him out and following him around the yard. Runt seemed to love the little vulpix equally as much. His stories set her tiny eyes aglow, and his many soft feathers were a perfect nap spot. After a time Veri came to accept that this was her daughter's friend, and was glad that at least she had one.

Through all of this, Oni played a much lesser role in raising his children than Veri had hoped...and expected. She did not credit this fully however to his self-distancing and self-pity; although he had recovered from his burns enough to walk about and even run, it seemed as though something after that had changed about him. He was not as presumptuous as he had always been. That, and the wounds never grew fur again and were a constant agitation. He spent countless hours a day sometimes cleaning and chafing the scabs that never seemed to go away. The snow had came and went but the wounds caused him the same amount of pain no matter how much time passed. Sometimes, he would come lay next to Veri in the bed near the hearth, but most nights he spent either alone in his corner or in the room with Charlie. The pair conversed surprisingly little, and secretly Veri did not want to ask him why he was so quiet. She thought on the matter, and concluded that she was angry with him, although she never fully quite understood why. She was upset with him for not even attempting to be in his offspring's life, but she also remembered what Runt had said about him and how his past shaped him to react to responsibility. She knew that deep down he wanted to do something, anything, but something, be it his fear, his pride, or something else, kept him away. It was for these reasons she did not entirely blame him for his absence. That, and the fact that he was in considerable pain for much of those days.

One day, during the peak of the summer, not long after both pups had gotten their fire, things around the house began to change, in a way that Veri was not entirely ready for.

Oni was having a particularly good day, moving around as usual, and was spending the late morning hours with Runt out behind the garden Linda kept near the side of the house. From the big tree near the road with the pups Veri saw Runt flying frantically towards the door, flapping and making a scene with loud squawks. He pecked on the door until Charlie poked his head out, throwing up his arms in confusion, but not long enough to resist a strong nudge from the giant bird towards the rear of the house. When he finally gave in they both disappeared around the side of the building and a moment later Veri heard him call loudly for Linda, who burst out the door holding their son, looking left and right to find where Charlie was calling her from. She heard her name again and when she saw Veri resting under the tree nearby she hurried and placed the child on the grass near the vulpix and raced around to the back of the house. Veri did not know what was going on

"Hay vulpixees...today I'm this many!" He held out an outspread palm and put two fingers back into a fist. Brynn and Phen circled the young boy as they often did, and he laughed with childlike joy at the rambunctious young vulpix climbing on and off his lap in play.

Nothing more was heard or seen as she intently watched the house from the tree until they came around, walking fast towards the door, carrying a limp gray dog in Charlie's arms. Runt followed them to the door, stood still on the stoop, and watched from outside. He turned to gaze at Veri and quickly turned back, peering inside the door at what was going on.


	26. Bereaved

Chapter 26

Bereaved

Veri left her pups alone with the boy for just a moment as she raced to the porch to find out what had just happened. Runt was shaking anxiously as he watched from outside.

"Runt! What's happened to Oni?"

"He's inside with them. We were out back near the garden when all of a sudden he just collapsed to the ground and wouldn't move or speak,"

"Runt, please go stay near the little ones, I have to see him."

"Veri, I..." He sighed and looked in one last time. "...alright." He said, turning and beating his wings over toward the tree. Veri nudged her way in past the door and skidded to a stop next to where Charlie and Linda had knelt down next to Oni. His scabs and "healed" flesh had spread to not just the areas he had been burnt, but was quickly spreading over more of his skin. Charlie gently brushed a hand past an area of fur near the spreading black clots and as easily as the wind blows seeds from a dandelion, the gray fur whisked to the floor. Linda left and returned with a pot of water and a cloth, and as Charlie held him in his lap she tried to clean the spreading black scars. He whined when the cool water touched his skin and Linda immediately withdrew her hand. Veri pushed her way under Charlie's arm and looked up at his face, where a tear was starting to form. Oni writhed and squirmed in his arms and Veri placed her head on the back of his neck, wanting to lick his wounds but was afraid to hurt him as the water had done. She whined anxiously and licked Charlie's hands, and while Runt kept the pups away, the three of them sat there next to the firey hearth, long after Linda had quietly taken their son to bed with her, and all through the night. Veri tried as hard as she could to fend off sleep, but eventually it overtook her, and she drifted to sleep in her master's lap.

She awoke suddenly to a sad sound. She looked up at Charlie and saw that he was no longer holding back his tears, but weeping vigorously. Veri lifted her head and saw Oni's tongue had lolled from his open mouth and his eyes stared wide and listless.

Veri thrust herself into his limp body and began to cry out with her master. Charlie stroked the coarse black fur over and over, and pulled Veri back onto his lap to embrace both canines as they wept together. Linda returned to the house with a basket from the market and dropped it upon beholding the sight before her.

The vulpix said nothing as she sat a short distance from Charlie and a blanket draped over the body next to him. He was moving dirt onto a large pile and when he had finished he stuck the spade into the ground and bent down and gently lifted the blanket and its contents into the hole. He turned to Veri and knelt down. She found it difficult to look him in the face, but she gazed up at him with mournful eyes, and Charlie pulled her close. Then he began moving the dirt back over the hole.

She did not see him, for he was supposed to be looking after Brynn and Phen while Veri was with Charlie, but Runt had watched the scene from the rooftop, and upon seeing Veri leave to go search for him, he quietly went back to the pups before she realized he had gone.

Veri lie on Charlie's lap as he sat on the porch, staring out into space. Linda had comforted them for a while but was now back inside with her son. He did not stroke her, but as he sat there, he let his hand rest on the vulpix's back. The pair sat until the sun began to set, already well below the treeline and all that could be seen was a orange glow emanating from behind the thick canopy. The pups were beginning to wonder where their mother went, as Runt could no longer herd the two together long enough to entertain them for another time. Eventually he gave up and let the pups race across the yard and up the steps to their master's feet. All twelve tails were wagging vigorously, as each had not a clue as to what had happened earlier that day. Runt fancied they didn't even know about death yet. Nor should they. When he neared the stoop he saw Veri's expressionless stare and made his way up the steps, instructing the pups to head inside to their bed for the night, but neither would have any of it. When Veri saw her children were no longer listening to their exhausted babysitter, she lifted her head and lept off Charlie's lap, nudging open the door with her muzzle.

"Veri, you should rest more; I can get them to bed for you,"

"Runt, you've been more help than I could have ever asked for today. I'll take them from here. Besides, I should be heading to bed as well."

Runt hesitated but was secretly relieved she had insisted taking over, for he was past his dose of constant herding and entertaining for the day, no matter how much he loved them. As Veri went inside, she looked back at Charlie, who had long since fallen asleep in the chair.

That night the mother vulpix found no sleep. Her loss– Charlie's loss– was quickly rusting away at the peace that had settled upon her in the recent weeks. Flashes of beginning of her new life with the gray dog kept Veri's mind on edge and her eyes wide awake, staring listlessly at the corner near the door for hours, long past the death of the hearth's embers beside her. Oni had not played an active role in the pups' lives, that was true, but he had played an invaluable part in their mother's life. Amidst the fear of being taken captive by strange humans, he had been there to ease her anxiety. He had provided the sort of company she would have gone mad without on the lonely vessel. He had confided in her. Oni had shown her the joy a life of ease and amusement can bring. Oni had mated with her.

Every creak in the house seemed suddenly the most noticeable thing she'd ever heard. The bristle of Runt's feathers as he shifted in his sleep was louder than soft plumes should be. The loud, barraging breathing Charlie made in his sleep made her own a fleeted luxury. And, with time, mental exhaustion pushed Veri into a light, but desperate sleep.

Lifting her head, groggy and still exhausted, Veri found that she had slept much past morning feeding, and Charlie was already making his way up the steps and into the house with boots covered in dry mud. The sunrise had long disappeared, and even Brynn and her brother had risen early enough to find time to play in the grass outside. When they saw through the open doorway that their mother had awoken, they raced across the yard up the steps, barreling right into Charlie's boot. When he felt the bump, he looked down and smiled, pulling something from his pocket. The pups grew excited, leaning against his leg, begging for what was in his hand. Charlie reached down with an open palm and let the two young vulpix take the two small sticks of smoked meat from him, which they joyously consumed at his feet. Veri watched all of this; she also caught her master strike a quick, uneasy glance at her from where she lay. This momentary exchange was broken by a word from his mate.

"So what do you think of what we discussed?"

He looked down at the excited pups at his feet.

"They just lost Oni...I couldn't do that to her..." He looked back up and glanced over at Linda. "I'll take them to town at the end of the summer. If I recall correctly, Raleigh is still in the trading business- I'll see if his rounds are taking him to southern Kanto this year. The university there has a wonderful collection of stock they care for, and the animals kept there are certainly treated much better than most farm beasts. I'm almost certain they would have a sire for the female. What do you think?"

She hesitated but it was clear she already had an answer for him.

"I think that Riis needs all the time with her children that she can, especially now that Oni is gone. You do what you think is best."

"Riis, let's go for a walk." Veri eagerly got to her feet and trailed behind him as he neared the door. Charlie put on his jacket and kissed Linda on the forehead, smiled at their son in her arms, and looked down at the anxious vulpix at his heels. "Ready?"

She was more than ready. After the events of the past week she was ready to be with Charlie in any way she could, for she knew there was more to his grief than he led on. She saw him as he sat on the porch in the middle of the night staring out into the night sky, not a word uttered for hours sometimes. The previous night he had sat on the stoop in the pouring rain. Today he looked slightly better; he did not have a void expression, and he did not seem as outwardly restless as he had the day before. Truthfully, Veri was excited about this small event in their day together, just a simple stroll, and Veri did not hide her excitement.

He swung open the creaky door and began down the path to the road. As he walked, Veri danced at his feet, trying not to get ahead of him and from below carefully observing all that he did. As they moved onto the main road, Charlie's stride turned to a leisurely stroll, which made it easier to keep up, but she did not stop watching him. It did not take long, and quickly Charlie appeared to be fully enjoying himself, hands in his pockets, staring up at the trees around him, clearly taking in the beauty of the night and the evening sky above them. Occasionally he looked down at the rambunctious creature at his feet and couldn't help but laugh to himself. These small reactions filled Veri with great joy.

A long time passed and the pair didn't say a word. For both master and canine, it was a silent, bonding amble. Crickets began to serenade the wandering pair, and soon after Charlie turned off the road onto a worn trail that weaved deep into the woods. The sun was low in the sky but not quite dusk, and the pair continued their stroll into the forest. The grass crunched under their feet and the brush whipped Charlie's knees and Veri's face as they continued, but she did not mind. As the birds above quieted for the day Charlie began to sing quietly- a song he loved and often hummed to himself when he sought peace and solitude. It was a soft, lulling tune, and it always brought Veri comfort to know he was feeling well enough to sing his song. She knew that he needed time away from the events that had soiled the days past, and this was as good as it could get. Such overwhelming feelings of joy allowed a bark to express it up at the strolling man, who smiled the most the vulpix had ever seen from him since their troubles began. She began to walk at an angle, constantly looking up at her amused master, overjoyed to be able to relieve him of his grief. Her ear flickered, but before she could turn head to see what the noise was an enormous violet viper rose up to almost half of Charlie's height. Charlie stopped suddenly and froze stone-still, and after a moment of being startled, she quickly realized that she was not between her master and the snake, which was emitting a long, rustling sound from its throat. She moved back a step to be as close to him as she could and heard a crack under her feet, and something runny seep into the dirt. She looked down and saw that Charlie had trampled this snake's brood of eggs...

Veri sounded a low growl at the reptile, and yipped as loud as she could to try and take its attention off of Charlie. Despite her efforts, the snake was clearly focused on the tall invader that had just destroyed a clutch of its young, rather than the small canine beside him trying to catch the predator's attention. The snake focused its sharp gaze at Charlie, who was standing stone-still. Only his foot had moved ever so slightly that it was no longer crushing the broken eggs. Suddenly it lunged at him, bearing dripping fangs which, to Veri, smelled as vile as it was poisonous. Charlie threw himself backwards to avoid the bite, and fell on his side as he twisted around. The snake landed face-first into the leafy undergrowth, immediately righting its thick body and turning to face Charlie where he lay. In what was perhaps part fear, part desperation, and part anger, Veri called out to the serpent that was clearly in position to strike a second time.

"Stop!" She flattened her ears and bared her teeth. "Do not touch him,"

To her surprise the serpent turned its head in her direction when it heard her threat, although Veri was not sure if it knew exactly what she had ordered it to do. It flicked it's black tongue out at her, and before she could react it turned again and struck Charlie in the leg. Her master's scream sent more than birds to shift in the forest; when she saw the serpent's fangs disappear into his clothing and red instantly saturate the area, Veri sprang upon the violet snake and sunk her own teeth into its rough hide. Needlepoint teeth penetrated its scales, causing the snake to release its hold on Charlie and lunge backward, writhing around in an effort to throw off the vulpix latched onto its hindquarters. It's overlapping scales made it easy for her grip to hold, even as it began to coil tightly around her tiny body. Another moment later she was fully constricted, and while still holding on with every bit of strength the coiled serpent was squeezing tighter by the second; she was quickly loosing room to breathe. But still, Veri held on.

Veri felt her lungs strained so tightly she felt that they would burst. It was at that moment that she had to release her hold on the snake, and it was also that same moment that the constrictor let out a painful cry and relaxed its hold on the tiny vulpix. It thrashed about, kicking up twigs and dead leaves, and in the chaos, Veri saw that Charlie had thrust a small pocket knife into the snake's head. Veri's body was almost entirely limp, but she managed to crawl over to him. Charlie was sprawled on his back, holding himself upright with his elbows, and one hand clenched around the area above his knee. She saw that the entire area had been drenched in blood, and his hand was caked with more blood and debris from the forest floor. Her master held a strained expression to his face, and he could only look at her as they both sat in pain in the undergrowth.

She knew very well that he could not understand her, but she shouted at him nonetheless. Veri had gone from angry to terrified in a matter of seconds, and was desperate to do something, anything, she could. "Get up! We need to get home!" Charlie broke his exasperated expression and stared at her, puzzled. His face clenched again as he gripped his leg tighter. The serpent still twisted and writhed to the side in pain, but Veri found the strength to begin frantically pushing at her master's body upright in a despondent effort to begin the journey home.


End file.
